1 Month Old Baby run over, killed in driveway at home

[nebraska_deputy]

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.

[David Hineline]

I can't see how this could not end in divorce each placing blame on the other to try and cope.

[Presence]

Wow. How the HECK does this happen!? I thought it was common sense not to stand behind the tire or behind the car when it is propped up on the jack, let alone leave your BABY behind the car!!

very sad for the family, they must be heartbroken over their carelessness.

rip baby.

[willowdared]

Oh jeez, how heartbreaking!

My thoughts and prayers for the family, and the first responders, that had to be a hard scene to be on.

[cgh6366]

I went to a similar call just over two years ago. Mom was leaving and the 16 month old wanted to go with her, but was told no. Unbeknownst to mom & dad, William had learned how to open the front gate. He walked behind the car as mom backed out - I could tell he was dead when I got there, but the medics worked on him and rushed him to the hospital.

Within a year the house and car had been sold - I doubt they styed together. Just a complete tragedy. That call still haunts me - the one I'll never forget.

[velobard]

So tragic.

I was present once when a mother accidently ran over the head of her 3 y/o daughter. When the mother went to move the truck, the little girl ran unseen around the back of the truck and tripped on the passenger side by the front tire. It was an ugly situation. We were in the middle of the Navajo reservation in Arizona. No one in the immediate area had a house phone or cell and they said it typically took at least an hour for an ambulance to respond. The aunt gathered up the little girl in her arms the the mother started to get into the driver's seat, hoping they had enough gas to get to the hospital when the grandfather, who heard the screams from his hogan, gently nudged his daughter aside to take the wheel.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night and the first chance I had I gave a big, long hug to my own 3 y/o daughter at home. I later learned that the little girl passed away one or two days later in a Phoenix hospital.

[willowdared]

Your all missing the key facts here:

First you know the parents are idiots. The CAR FELL OFF THE JACK. Obviously simple insructions and such are too complex for them

Than he MOVED the car?? So either he took the tire off and it was sitting on 3 tires... or He lifted the car up extremely high and it fell back onto the flat tire?

Actually, he moved the car to a level area....and I can imagine all sorts of situations where they were rushing to make an appointment for the baby, or even that the baby was sick and crying, causing stress for both parents, which causes people to make dreadful mistakes.

No different then an LEO in the middle of a critical incident forgetting something like - oh crossfire maybe?

The difference, is that you may get months of training to remember what to do when the poop hits the fan, and hopefully your training steps in to keep you safe.

[OfficerDotCom]

I don't know who some of you folks think you are...

First off, and I apologize up front for being outraged, if you have no appreciation for the life of a child, go elsewhere. EVERY parent - no matter how stupid or ignorant can criticize what happened in that incident. If you've NEVER had children; don't WANT children; and consider your PET of equal value to my children, then I think you need to go elsewhere.

I have four kids. I have six pets. I would trade all of the pets for the life of one of my children every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Of late, the board has been getting a lot of leeway because I perceived it's existence as a place for adult conversation. This approach has left me sorting through approximately three dozen emails each day reporting posts that are WAY out there or simply violate the TOS. That is immediately coming to an end. If you can't have enough heart to:

1) Sympathize with a member who has lost her mother WITHOUT attaching her religious beliefs, seek life elsewhere.

2) Comment on the loss of an innocent child WITHOUT equating the life of that child to the value of a chi hua hua, seek life elsewhere.

Such comments and actions in the future will get members banned for long periods of time. Such heartless and inhuman statements are not welcome here.