Boy dies after tombstone falls, hits him in Utah

(AP) A 4-year-old boy is dead after a large tombstone toppled onto him while he and his family were visiting a historic cemetery in a Utah ski resort town.

Carson Dean Cheney was at the Glenwood Cemetery in Park City with his family Thursday evening when the 6-foot-tall headstone, which weighed hundreds of pounds, detached from its base and fell onto him, Park City police Capt. Phil Kirk said Friday.

Authorities were still investigating how it happened.

"This tragic accident has taken the life of our energetic, sweet, beloved little boy," his grandmother Geri Gibbs said in a statement.

Kirk said an investigator was at the cemetery Friday morning probing the incident.

He said family members were able to free the boy from under the fallen tombstone before emergency crews arrived, and paramedics tried to save him at the scene. The child had injuries to his head, chest and abdomen and was taken to the nearby Park City Medical Center, where he died.

"We're dealing now with not only the family, but also the emergency responders who are all saddened by what happened," Kirk said.

He said the boy and his family were visiting from Lehi, about an hour away. It wasn't immediately clear why they were at the cemetery or if they had relatives buried there.

Bruce Erickson, president of the Glenwood Cemetery Association, said the private, five-acre cemetery around the corner from Park City Mountain Resort was founded by a society of silver miners in 1885. It is open to the public and still accepts burials of people connected to the mining society.

Erickson said no funerals were held at the cemetery Thursday.

New burials happen maybe just once a year, he said, and families are responsible for maintaining the headstones, many of which are at least 100 years old. Erickson said the cemetery likely will be closed through the weekend.

[katt866]

There was another article that said the father was taking photos in the cemetery. Some subjects were not smiling so the 4yo was pretending to be a leprechaun and popping out from the sides of the stone to make them laugh.

[1959angel]

Idiots like if a large end heavy tombstone is gonna make a difference on the dead. I hope they remove the damn tombstone. Poor child.This story really sucks. My heart breaks just picturing the family attempting to remove the damn stone off the child. 4 year old! What a terrible loss.

[FiatHeart]

So sad. It's also almost equally as tragic to see the sociopathic trolls out in force, attempting to make "comedy" out of the accidental death of a 4 year old. Just as worse, the self-righteous pomposity of folks more concerned about the "sanctity" of a cemetery than the life of an innocent child. We wonder why we're messed up.

[hypnotoad72]

Agreed

[ralphing]

No mention of poltergeists?

[tafhdyd]

I have to wonder if there is any link to a relative of Dick Cheney. If not, the Devil may have just made an unfortunate mistake in identity.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

"..the 6-foot-tall headstone, which weighed hundreds of pounds, detached from its base and fell onto him

...and families are responsible for maintaining the headstones, many of which are at least 100 years old."

---

This kid weighed 40 to 50 pounds max.

Unless the damn thing was neglected and ready to tip over already, his climbing on it would not have brought it down on top of him.

[knewsteerrrrr]

We all know how reporters can't get facts straight, they CLAIMED the stone is 6 feet tall it could be 4, they claim it weighs "hundreds of pounds" but they didn't measure or weigh it, stone weighs on average 150# a cubic foot, and that tombstone's weight will vary a lot if it's 3" thick or 6" thick. 6 feet tall tells us nothing since if it's 3" thick that's unstable, if it's 10" thick it's a lot more stable and not prone to simply falling off it's base.

The other issues is, with the kid climbing on the stone where the hel were the PARENTS and why were they stupid enough to let their kid vandalize someone's stone that way!

[Lerianis6]

knewsteerrrrr, again.... kids climb on things. It's perfectly normal and natural behavior that sometimes, yes..... does end up killing or injuring them.

There is absolutely no blame here, once again, on the child or the parents.

[knewsteerrrrr]

He said the boy and his family were visiting from Lehi, about an hour away. It wasn't immediately clear why they were at the cemetery or if they had relatives buried there."

Are these reporter that stupid? They drive to the cemetary from an HOUR away, of course they have a relative buried there, in any case what difference does it make whether they did or didn't, they still were in the cemetary.

[pwgrant]

"Stupid" is a word to describe something YOU do not understand. There is a activity fad of sorts, similar to Geocaching and that is to visit a cemetary (the older the better) and not the GPS coordinates of the oldest cemetery, the youngest. We even go as far to notes the names and "google" a bit to discover the families history. The Missus and I have been to many cemeteries were we do not have relatives. We have hiked and bikes into forests looking and hunting. SO; whose "stupid" now? Moron. Getting back to this (preventable) tragedy, it is sad.

[knewsteerrrrr]

Like I said:

He said the boy and his family were visiting from Lehi, about an hour away. It wasn't immediately clear why they were at the cemetery or if they had relatives buried there."

Are these reporter that stupid? They drive to the cemetary from an HOUR away, of course they have a relative buried there, in any case what difference does it make whether they did or didn't, they still were in the cemetary.

[knewsteerrrrr]

Authorities were still investigating how it happened."

Pretty easy, tombstones weighing "hundreds of pounds" don't simply fall over by themselves, the brat was either climbing on it or pushing it, or trying to push it over while mom/dad were not watching, and in this case he got the darwin award for 2012!

[Lerianis6]

Actually, tombstones CAN fall over by themselves. I was at the cemetery up in West Virginia where some of my relatives are buried when I was 12 and a tombstone decided to 'shift' and go boom.

Had to call out the family so that we could hoist the thing back up and replace it where it belonged.

[AnnieDanny]

The outrageous callous comments on this thread are inhuman. Calling the boy a brat shows what YOU are made of. Shame!!

Stupid trolls have taken over all the messages on CBS News lately.

[kanajune]

Sounds like a truly tragic event, but I do question whether the boy happened to be climbing on the stone at the time or was it totally a matter of him standing in the wrong place at the wrong time? I have seen so many parents lately totally ignoring the dangerous activities of their active children, such as one youngster hanging upside down on the railing at a Wendy's restaurant right next to a sign warning that it was dangerous while mommy was ordering. Kid could have split his head open........
But this story may not be anything like that, just wondered if the reporting could have omitted some details?

[phwtb100]

His climbing on the head stone was the first thing I thought of also. How sad it is that this happened.

My heart goes out to the family, along with my prayers. My hopes, on the other hand, go out to all those parents out there who completely ignore their children. I truly hope that reading about this little boy will FORCE all of them to mend their stupidity by PUTTING THEIR PHONES DOWN, turning their laptops off, and PAYING ATTENTION to what their children are doing and where their children are doing it.

Stupid is as stupid does and it seems, these days, the most stupid are the ones who are supposed to be the more intelligent.

Rest in peace, Carson.
I know you will be missed.

[SUZAMBA]

I too wondered if the child was climbing on the headstone. Since these headstones are very old, I hope that was not the case and that the parents were making sure the headstones and grave sites weren't disturbed. How sad.