Stone monument falls and crushes 5-year-old playing with her sister, Georgia cops say
A 5-year-old girl was playing outside when a granite monument toppled onto her in southeast Georgia, officials said.
The child died after she was rushed to a hospital with injuries on Sunday night, said Chris Wright of the Blackshear Police Department.
The girl, kindergartener Bella Bennett, was playing with her 8-year-old sister when a 200- to 300-pound monument fell and crushed her, officials said. The “freak accident” happened at the Lee Street Resource Center, roughly 80 miles northwest of Jacksonville, Florida, according to police.
A photo on the WSB-TV website shows the headstone-like monument had been standing in a grassy area in front of a flagpole.
Bella was taken to a medical center in nearby Waycross, Georgia, before she went to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Florida, Wright told McClatchy News in a phone interview. The girl later died.
The Pierce County School System in a statement said it was “heartbroken” over the loss of a student.
“Bella was a kindergarten student at Blackshear Elementary,” the district said in the emailed statement. “She loved to play with her friends at school and staff say she loved horses. We pray for the family and intend to help the family in any way that the school system can.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Stone monument falls and crushes 5-year-old playing with her sister, Georgia cops say."
