After a day spent rodeoing and hanging out with friends, a quick
ride on an off-road vehicle turned deadly for a 12-year-old San
Juan Bautista boy who was killed Sunday when he crashed the all
terrain vehicle he was riding in Aromas.
Aromas – After a day spent rodeoing and hanging out with friends, a quick ride on an off-road vehicle turned deadly for a 12-year-old San Juan Bautista boy who was killed Sunday when he crashed the all terrain vehicle he was riding in Aromas.
Colin Coady, who was not wearing a helmet while he and two other friends rode all-terrain vehicles around a rural property located off Highway 101 in Aromas, died a little after 2pm when he crashed the 2004 Honda ATV and suffered massive head and neck trauma, according to California Highway Patrol Office Chris Armstrong.
Police will be unable to discern exactly what killed Coady until an autopsy is performed Wednesday, and because there were no witnesses to the collision, Armstrong said. They are in the process of piecing together bits of information in the hopes of figuring out what led to the accident, Armstrong said.
Coady, who lived to ride horses, had been at a rodeo earlier that day and was riding the ATV to a friend’s home from the Highway 101 Livestock Auction Yard in Aromas, according to his father, Alan Coady.
“He pretty much was born on a horse. His mother rode one the day before he was born – he was on a horse before he could walk,” his dad said. “His passion was team roping and horses and bull riding. He was big into bull riding. He had a lot of talent, he could of went a long way.”
Coady and his two friends, a 14 and 15-year-old boy, who also were not wearing helmets, were driving the vehicles a short distance from the auction yard to one of the boy’s homes when the accident occurred.
Coady’s dad said the boy had experience riding ATVs and also was unsure what caused him to crash the vehicle.
Preliminary investigation reveals that Coady split off from the group, drove the vehicle up a hill and though a grazing pasture at an unknown speed, Armstrong said. He continued across a dirt roadway and up another hill, when he either lost control of the vehicle or possibly tried to jump it, Armstrong said. The ATV began to overturn and Coady was thrown from the vehicle, Armstrong said. Police believe the ATV overturned and landed on top of the boy, however it is unclear whether the trauma from the vehicle caused his death or if he died as a result of hitting his head on the ground, he said.
Shortly after the accident, Coady’s friends noticed a cloud of dust, rode up the hill and found him, Armstrong said. One of the boys stayed with Coady while the other rode to the house and got his parents, who called 911.
While paramedics provided medical attention at the scene and originally called Calstar to fly Coady to a trauma center, they canceled the air ambulance while it was en route and pronounced Coady dead at the scene, Armstrong said.
While still in a state of shock Monday, Coady’s father praised the work done by paramedics and officers with the CHP and San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.
Coady, who lived with his parents and 9-year-old sister Taylor on a ranch in San Juan Bautista, attended San Juan School until second grade and then transferred to Monte Vista Christian school in Watsonville. Alicia Gonzalez, who is a clerk at San Juan School and whose son was friends with Coady, remembered the boy well and was crushed to hear about the accident.
“He was an awesome kid, full of life, very happy all the time, always smiling,” Gonzalez said. “He got along with the kids really well and never had a problem. Just a sweet kid.”
A funeral service will be held Friday at the San Juan Bautista Mission at 10am, and a memorial service will follow at the Highway 101 Livestock Auction.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
