Published Wednesday August 27, 2008
Baby run over, killed in driveway at home
BY MAGGIE O'BRIEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
For the Raatz family, it was one of those common headaches people deal with all the time: a flat tire.
It should have been a simple fix.
Instead, their month-old baby is dead.
Corey and Julie Raatz were at their rural Tilden, Neb., home about 10:50 a.m. Monday, changing a flat tire on their car, Deputy Pierce County Attorney Amy Wiebelhaus said Tuesday.
Their daughter, Jaycee, was strapped into an infant carrier that was sitting on the driveway, Wiebelhaus said.
The vehicle then fell off the tire jack. Corey Raatz decided to move the car to a level area of the driveway before trying to use the jack again.
Unbeknownst to Corey Raatz, his wife had moved Jaycee to a different part of the driveway. As he moved the car, the infant was run over, Wiebelhaus said.
"He didn't know the mother had set the baby down on the other side," she said.
"It's a sad deal."
Jaycee was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy concluded that the infant's injuries were consistent with having been run over by a car, Wiebelhaus said.
She said she didn't know whether Corey Raatz was backing up or pulling forward, or where the child had been moved.
The incident remained under investigation, Wiebelhaus said.
The Raatzes could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Pierce County Sheriff Rick Eberhardt declined to comment.
Baby run over, killed in driveway at home
BY MAGGIE O'BRIEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
For the Raatz family, it was one of those common headaches people deal with all the time: a flat tire.
It should have been a simple fix.
Instead, their month-old baby is dead.
Corey and Julie Raatz were at their rural Tilden, Neb., home about 10:50 a.m. Monday, changing a flat tire on their car, Deputy Pierce County Attorney Amy Wiebelhaus said Tuesday.
Their daughter, Jaycee, was strapped into an infant carrier that was sitting on the driveway, Wiebelhaus said.
The vehicle then fell off the tire jack. Corey Raatz decided to move the car to a level area of the driveway before trying to use the jack again.
Unbeknownst to Corey Raatz, his wife had moved Jaycee to a different part of the driveway. As he moved the car, the infant was run over, Wiebelhaus said.
"He didn't know the mother had set the baby down on the other side," she said.
"It's a sad deal."
Jaycee was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy concluded that the infant's injuries were consistent with having been run over by a car, Wiebelhaus said.
She said she didn't know whether Corey Raatz was backing up or pulling forward, or where the child had been moved.
The incident remained under investigation, Wiebelhaus said.
The Raatzes could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Pierce County Sheriff Rick Eberhardt declined to comment.
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