AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A second child has died following a crash during an Ohio funeral procession for a teenager who died of a suspected drug overdose, an accident followed by two episodes of gunfire that wounded at least one person, authorities said.
Lt. Michael Miller of the Akron police department said the 6-year-old boy was pronounced dead Friday night at a hospital, where he was taken after the Thursday afternoon collision in Akron.
The Summit County medical examiner’s office identified him Saturday as Trevond Walker Jr. and said he died of blunt force injuries to the head. A 12-year-old boy, identified by the medical examiner’s office as Tymar Allen, died hours after the crash, also of blunt-force injuries, officials said.
Police said the two cousins were in a car in the procession through Akron led by a marked police cruiser. Police were told that people were hanging out of car windows during the procession before the two-car crash, which fully ejected one of the children and partially ejected the other, Miller said.
A preliminary investigation indicates that “speed and reckless operation” may have played a role in the accident, Miller said. A decision on whether charges are warranted will be made after the completion of the accident reconstruction, he said.
Seconds after the crash, a gunshot rang out, and a man who was driving another involved vehicle ran off and has not been found, police said. It wasn’t clear who fired the shot. Miller said neither child was injured by gunfire.
Complicating the investigation was a second shooting that occurred minutes later, within sight of the crash scene. More than a dozen shots were fired, but authorities said that no one was injured in that gunfire and that the two shootings appeared to be unrelated.
