ST. GEORGE – An 8-year-old boy was killed Sunday in a Payson residential neighborhood where he lived when a woman allegedly driving under the influence of a variety of drugs hit him in the roadway where he was out playing with his siblings. The boy had just celebrated his birthday on Saturday.
Payson City Police responded to the area of 1000 West 680 South in Payson around 2:35 p.m. on report of a child being hit by a car, the department said in a morning news release. On arriving, officers found the 8-year-old, later identified by family as Kaydon Delroy Sillitoe, severely injured in the roadway.
The boy had major head trauma, Payson Police Lt. Bill Wright said, extensive head injuries and others as well. Ambulance crews actively worked on him at the scene before he was transported to Mountain View Hospital where medical personnel actively worked on him. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The maroon Chevy Traverse that hit Sillitoe was driven by Tabatha Ann Magoon, 37, Wright said. She was alone with no passengers.
Magoon remained at the scene and cooperated fully with police, Wright said, consenting to blood and urine tests that proved positive for amphetamines, opiates, methamphetamine and oxycodone in her system.
Sillitoe had been out on a skateboard in the road just west of his home that sits on the corner, Wright said. He was in the eastbound lane of travel when Magoon, who also lives in the neighborhood, made a wide turn at the nearby intersection (a four-way with no stop signs) and into that eastbound lane, hitting him.
The investigation is ongoing, Wright said, but there is no indication that conditions other than Magoon driving under the influence – such as speed or weather – factor into the incident.
“It was a very nice clear day,” Wright said, “with blue skies, just a real nice afternoon.”
Two children, ages 5 and 7, who have been as siblings to Sillitoe most of his life, were with him when he got hit. Their mother, Johnnie Sullivan, told St. George News how her 7-year-old daughter described the incident:
Kaydon was sitting on the skateboard and waiting to go down the hill. (There was a hill and he doesn’t know how to skateboard standing up so he was sitting on it, Johnnie Sullivan said explaining). He sat down and was about to go. He was talking to her, she said, and all of a sudden the car came out of nowhere and he was underneath it.
“She shut down at that point,” Johnnie Sullivan said of her daughter, “and then she said to me, ‘he got ran over, Mom.’”
It was nothing out of the ordinary for children to be playing with a skateboard on the street, Wright said, no ordinance against it that he could think of. The streets there are residential and do not receive heavy traffic, he said, just local traffic.
Magoon was arrested Sunday at 10:18 p.m., Wright said, and booked on charges of operating a vehicle negligently causing injury or death, driving with measurable controlled substance in her system and improper right turn.
In addition to Payson City Police, Santaquin Police, Payson City Fire and Payson City Ambulance responded to the scene, along with a Utah Highway Patrol traffic investigation, accident reconstruction team.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Family statement
Tracie Sullivan, Sillitoe’s grandmother, issued the following statement Monday on behalf of the family:
It has long been said the most difficult situation for a family to deal with is the death of a child. Today, nobody knows that better than the family of 8-year-old Kaydon Delroy Sillitoe who was killed yesterday (allegedly) by Tabatha Magoon, 37, who was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail for allegedly driving with several different substances in her body including methamphetamine.
What do you say? There are no words to express the pain, heartache and even anger that we feel.
This was an accident that could have been entirely avoided with different choices. The police have done their job to make sure the investigation is solid enough to ensure this woman is tried and convicted.
We as the family are calling upon the Utah County Attorney Jeff Vuhman to do his part and work with law enforcement to guaranty that justice is served in this case and that Kaydon’s death does not become another plea bargain in the state’s books.
I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff earlier and he assured me he would work with the family as he tries this case and I am confident that, that will happen.
We would like to thank the Payson Police Department, specifically Lt. Bill Wright, for his kindness and support as well as family and friends who have taken time to express their condolences and reach out to the family.
As you can imagine, this time is already so painful and we as a family need a chance to grieve and make arrangements to bury our little boy. Please give us the opportunity to do that at this time.
Kaydon’s body will be buried in Cedar City.
Family members set up a GoFundMe fundraiser page Sunday seeking assistance with travel and funeral expenses. The goal currently set is $10,000 and, as of 6:15 p.m. Monday, $4,885 has been raised, according to the Web page. Posted on the page is the following:
PLEASE HELP! He was only 8 years old, he celebrated his birthday just yesterday. Someone was … (driving) down their neighborhood, he was barely off the curb & was hit. This is such a struggle for their family & two kids. We need all the help we can get.
Ed. note: Tracie Sullivan is a news reporter with St. George News.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Accident reconstruction markings on the street in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Tracie Sullivan, St. George News Tabatha Ann Magoon, of Payson, Utah, booking photo posted March 21, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Payson City Police Department, St. George News Accident reconstruction markings on the street in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Tracie Sullivan, St. George News Balloons placed along a road in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George News Kaydon Delroy Sillitoe, St. George News Balloons placed along a road in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George News Accident reconstruction markings on the street in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Tracie Sullivan, St. George News Accident reconstruction markings on the street in the area of 1000 West 680 South where an 8-year-old boy was hit and killed Sunday by an alleged DUI driver. Payson, Utah, March 21, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Tracie Sullivan, St. George News
Resources
- GoFundMe Web page for the family
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @JoyceKuzmanic @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
terrible
Prayers for his family that they may have comfort at this time
Such young children should have been supervised by a close by adult especially if they were playing in the street.
Anyone who grew up in the 70’s and Kate 80’s knows there was not much “adult supervision” it was come in when the street lights come on! look how many of us survived without adult supervision, cell phones, Internet. its a deeper problem, the world is going to hell in a hand basket.
And we survived without seat belts too….amazing!