EDINBURG — Authorities are investigating the death of a one-year-old girl who may have been struck by her father’s vehicle on Christmas morning.
Officials from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to Sherman Street, located near Curry and Caesar Chavez roads, at 10:12 a.m. Wednesday in reference to an injured child, HCSO Spokesman Sgt. Francisco Medrano said.
When deputies arrived, they found an unresponsive one-and-a-half-year-old girl lying behind the rear driver’s side of a truck.
According to Medrano, the child’s father said he was backing out of the garage when he heard a noise and found his daughter lying on the ground behind his truck.
Medrano says sheriff’s office investigators and crime scene specialists were summoned to the scene and that the investigation is ongoing.
An autopsy has been ordered, Medrano said.
The accident is one in a series of fatal incidents in the past few months that have claimed the lives of Rio Grande Valley children.
In November a one-year-old was struck and killed by a vehicle in Donna, and a two-year-old was killed by a reversing vehicle in Harlingen earlier this month.
Authorities say all of the events appeared to be accidental and that family members were driving in each instance.
