MADISON — A 7-year-old boy was killed and a 1-year-old sibling suffered a life-threatening head injury when the pickup their father was driving veered off White School House Road and struck a large tree, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The wreck occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday as five members of the same Madison family were traveling west on the road, also known as Route 148, about a half-mile from the intersection with Russell Road, Chief Deputy Mike Mitchell said.
The father, 30-year-old Robert Simonds, suffered injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Mitchell said. The mother of the children, 28-year-old Ashley Corson, also sustained injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The two were traveling with their three children and returning home after visiting with friends in Hartland, according to Mitchell, who said it wasn’t clear what led the pickup to leave the road.
The 7-year-old died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck, Mitchell said.
The 1-year-old was in a child safety seat. The baby was transported along with a 9-year-old brother and their parents to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan. They were then taken to Portland hospitals. The 9-year-old’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, Mitchell said.
The oldest child was wearing a seat belt when the wreck occurred and Mitchell wasn’t sure if the parents were belted.
He said sheriff’s deputies and other first responders came upon a traumatic scene.
“We got our chaplain, Kevin Brooks, and we called him out last night to meet with all the deputies before they went home,” Mitchell said.
Brooks is the pastor at Canaan Calvary Church in Canaan.
A Maine State Police reconstruction team will determine how fast the Ford F-150 was traveling but Mitchell said it did not appear speed was a factor. The speed limit in that area is 50 mph.
White School House Road was closed for more than an hour. Assisting at the scene were several agencies, including Anson-Madison-Starks Ambulance, Upper Kennebec Valley Ambulance Service and the Madison Fire Department.
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