Community reacts to tragic accident that killed 4-year-old child

Newburgh, Ind. (WEHT) Sheriff deputies in Warrick County are trying to piece together how a 4-year-old child was killed after wandering into the road in the middle of the night.

Police say 4-year-old Braxton Freeze of Princeton, was hit by a car around 4 this morning along State Road 66 near Outer Lincoln Avenue. The driver, whose identity has not been released, says he was driving to work and dimmed his lights for oncoming traffic when the child appeared out of nowhere.

Eyewitness News obtained the 911 call from the driver: Dispatcher: “Warrick County 911?” Driver: “Uh yes, I just hit a child in the middle of the road.” Dispatcher: “You hit what in the road?” Driver: “A child in the middle of the highway.”

911 records show the dispatcher walked the driver through CPR, trying to save the child’s life, but to no avail. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. Now, the community is reacting to the tragic accident. Robert Smith lives in Newburgh and says he first heard about the accident at work.

“We were talking about it during break. And I just could not believe it. I had not heard anything about it and I live in the area,” he said.

Smith says it breaks his heart.

“It upsets me. I do not know them, but I feel sorry for them. There is so much tragedy in the world and having something like this happen on our doorstep is horrible,” Smith said.

Now, police are trying to determine how the child ended up in the middle of a highway at 4 in the morning. Police tell us that the child’s mother and her boyfriend were sleeping at a business in the area when the child wandered into the street. So far, police tell us no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed, but the investigation is ongoing.

The driver was questioned at the scene and tested for alcohol, which police say is routine.

“I cannot imagine how he is doing right now. And to say that anybody will go back to a normal life after experiencing something to tragic, his life will probably never be the same,” said Chief Deputy Paul Kruse, of the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office.