10-Year-Old Dies After Allegedly Drunk Mother Crashes UTV, Causing It to Roll Over

A 10-year-old child has died after a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) rolled over in Alaska.

Alaska State Troopers responded to the Jim Creek Recreation Area in Palmer around 6:35 p.m. local time on Thursday, June 18, after receiving reports that a side-by-side vehicle had flipped and injured five occupants, the Alaska State Troopers said in a news release.

A preliminary investigation found that Hannah Lebel, 32, was driving four juveniles in the rugged off-road vehicle when it rolled onto its roof.

Three of the juveniles suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to a Mat-Su area hospital for treatment, while troopers declared a 10-year-old child dead at the scene, according to the Alaska State Troopers’ news release.

Troopers have since transported the child’s body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office and notified their next of kin.

During the investigation, troopers reportedly noticed signs of impairment in Lebel, according to the Alaska State Troopers’ news release. Investigators eventually determined that she was intoxicated at the time of the fatal crash.

Troopers have since arrested Lebel on charges of criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, assault and driving under the influence.

According to Alaska’s News Source, two of the children, including the one who died, belonged to Lebel. A family friend’s two children rounded out the other passengers in the UTV.

Lebel allegedly admitted to drinking “several” alcoholic drinks, including three beers, before the accident, the outlet reported. She claimed she had been driving in and out of the water repeatedly to delight the children with water spraying onto the vehicle.

Lebel went on to claim that all four children had been wearing seatbelts and that she didn’t know why the vehicle rolled over, theorizing that it may have hit a bump or rock under the water.

Troopers later determined that no one in the vehicle had actually been wearing a seat belt, since all front belts remained buckled after the crash.

Following the tragic incident, a witness told Alaska’s News Source that they heard a child say Lebel was driving too fast. After examining the vehicle’s tracks, troopers determined that it had indeed been traveling at a high rate of speed.