8-year-old girl killed in July 4th parade accident

KAYSVILLE, Utah (KSTU) - A Utah community was left in shock after an 8-year-old girl was killed during the town’s annual July Fourth parade.

It happened just north of Salt Lake City in the town of Kaysville.

The girl was performing with her cheer team when she was hit by a vehicle that was with the group.

It’ll be a Fourth that many in the community will associate with tragedy.

“I don’t think people understood the seriousness of the situation at first,” Shawna Dennis said.

Dennis and her family were near the Kaysville fire station on the main street watching the parade as they do every year.

“Immediately, like I’m in shock. It was horrific,” Dennis said. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.”

Dennis said she witnessed the little girl get run over by a vehicle.

“I glanced up and I see a little girl that was laying on the ground in that little dance company and the trailer, the back trailer just ran over the top of her,” she said.

Dennis then grabbed her own children so they wouldn’t see the incident unfold.

“I heard a woman screaming at the driver, ‘Stop, stop, stop, you just ran over one of your girls,’” she said.

Dennis said that emergency responders were on scene within seconds and the girl was carried away to the fire station nearby.

“This is a truly tragic event,” Officer Lexi Benson with the Kaysville Police Department said. “You know, this is a day to celebrate and celebrate families, a day that’s supposed to be fun. And it’s turned into something that’s been really sad and our hearts not only go out to the victim’s family but everybody that witnessed what happened.”

The girl was rushed to an area hospital and the parade was canceled immediately.

Kaysville police have not elaborated on specifics of how the incident unfolded.

A day where celebration and smiles were expected to flood the streets of the town ended suddenly with so many on the parade route wondering what went wrong.