THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS
By KACIE DINGUS BREEDING
timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — A 4-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries Tuesday afternoon when he was struck by a truck while riding a bicycle in the courtyard of Lee Apartments on Dale Street, according to a Kingsport Police Department press release.
Police identified the boy as Jamarion H. Carpenter. The driver of the 2008 Ford F350 was identified as Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority employee John H. Marshall, 48, of Kingsport.
PHOTO AT RIGHT
David Grace —dgrace@timesnews.net
As the Rev. Kenneth Calvert leads a group in prayer in the background, Kingsport Police Department Patrolman John McGee photographs the scene of Tuesday afternoon’s fatal accident involving a 4-year-old bicycle rider in the courtyard of Lee Apartments.
Kingsport police said Marshall was driving through the grounds about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday after dropping off some boxes in storage when the incident occurred.
Jamarion was transported to Holston Valley Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
KPD Officer John McNew, one of two traffic reconstructionists on the scene, said shortly after the accident that the investigation would include review of a nearby surveillance camera’s tape.
If it was turned in the right direction at the time of the accident, it would show police what happened, he said. If not, the only witnesses might be the driver and a young girl who was not identified by police.
The bystanders interviewed up to that point all seemed to have come on the scene after the fact, McNew said.
The Rev. Kenneth Calvert led a group in prayer, and several people stood talking, crying and comforting each other under a nearby shade tree as police conducted their investigation. Several other small children on bicycles watched the commotion just a few feet from where the boy’s blue bike lay in the grass.
One small girl on a bike about the same size as the one Jamarion was riding appeared beside an adjacent building and wheeled toward the group. An older girl approached her and bent down to whisper to her. The younger girl’s face crumpled, and both dissolved into tears.
KPD Lt. Jerry Robinson said the incident remains under investigation by the Kingsport Traffic Unit.
