Two boys died over the weekend at haunted hayrides gone awry in two different states, authorities said.
The first incident happened Friday night at a hayride event in Tennessee, where a juvenile died from injuries they suffered after being struck by a tractor, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The young attendee and a group of others were hiding in bushes along a hayride tractor route at the Haunted Hilltop Halloween event, near Chattanooga, when it occurred.
Although authorities identified the deceased only as a juvenile and said they would not provide additional information about their death investigation because of the person’s age, organizers of the Haunted Hilltop event said in social media posts that a young boy had died. The Chatanooga Free Press identified him as 12-year-old Samuel Jessen, citing the medical examiner’s office. CBS News contacted the medical examiner and the sheriff but did not receive immediate replies.
Deputies said the child may have fallen beneath the wheels of one of the tractors while attempting to scare hay riders by jumping out of the bushes and onto their trailer. Organizers of the Haunted Hilltop said it was the trailer that struck and fatally wounded the boy. He was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff.
“The HCSO family extends our thoughts and sympathy to the family of the deceased juvenile, as well as the others who witnessed the tragic event,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “We ask the community also keep this family in their prayers during this difficult time.”
Organizers called the boy’s death “a tragic accident” and canceled events that had been scheduled for Saturday.
An eerily similar incident took place at a haunted hayride event in Minnesota the following night. Another young boy, identified by local authorities as 13-year-old Alexander Mick, died at an annual Halloween event in St. Augusta called the Harvest of Horror Haunted Hayride. Mick was also run over by a wagon that one of the tractors was pulling, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office said.
Staff, bystanders and an off-duty police officer at the event rendered aid immediately and performed life-saving measures, according to the sheriff, but the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office said they are investigating Mick’s death, which they called an accident.
Teri Mick, the boy’s mother, told CBS News Minnesota her son “was an amazingly unique child who loved Jesus with all his heart.”
“He was full of life, a junior black belt in taekwondo, played drums for the worship team, he was in band, sang in choir, in robotics and soccer and almost was an Eagle Scout,” she said.
The remaining nights of the 2024 Harvest of Horror were canceled in the wake of Mick’s death, CBS Minnesota reported.
