HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich.—A 1-year-old boy who was among three brothers who were trapped inside an SUV that rolled into a southwestern Michigan pond and flipped over died, hours after the two older boys were pronounced dead, officials said Friday.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office announced that the boy who had been in critical condition since Thursday’s crash had died. Officials said the boy’s older brothers, ages 3 and 4, died in a hospital shortly after the crash. The children’s mother survived and her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 1-year-old Josiah Gonzales, 3-year-old Jeremiah Gonzales, and 4-year-old Jerome Gonzales.
Officials said the crash happened just after 11 a.m. Thursday in Holland Township, the Grand Rapids Press reported. They said the boys’ mother was driving east when the SUV swerved into westbound lanes and jumped a curb before landing upside down in the pond.
The mother escaped, but the boys, strapped into their child-restraint seats, were trapped in the water that was about 3- to 4-feet deep, the office said. Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies and Holland Township firefighters jumped into the water and, using a winch on a fire truck to stabilize the vehicle, pulled the boys out.
Sheriff’s Capt. J. Douglas told The Associated Press that investigators were trying to determine how fast the vehicle was traveling when it struck the curb and whether any mechanical problems caused it to veer off the roadway. He said that there was no indication that alcohol was a factor but that blood-alcohol tests would be conducted.
The name of the mother has not been released.
