8-Year-Old Boy Killed In ATV Accident In PG County: Police

TEMPLE HILLS, MD — Police are investigating after an 8-year-old boy died two days after an ATV accident in Temple Hills last Sunday.

The victim, Kemel Bonilla Reyes, was riding on an ATV on Sept. 1 when it flipped in a cul-de-sac, and he died Sept. 3 at the hospital, according to a report from the Prince George's County Police Department. D.C. police responded to the original incident, PGPD said.

"The Prince George’s County Police department was not alerted at the time of the incident nor called to respond to the original incident," the report states.

After investigating, police believe that a 15-year-old boy was driving the ATV in the 5000 block of Janis Lane with the victim and another 8-year-old boy riding on it, the report adds.

"It appears Bonilla-Reyes was sitting on the gas tank and holding onto the handlebars when, for reasons that remain under investigation, the ATV flipped," it states. "A family member then drove Bonilla-Reyes to a hospital in DC. The boy’s injuries required that he be transferred to Children’s National Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. An autopsy is pending. Detectives recovered and impounded the ATV for further investigation."

Chief Hank Stawinski pledged in a statement to get to the bottom of what happened.

"This is a tragic situation," he said. "We are going to get to the bottom of what happened and how it happened. These off road vehicles are a danger to the community and, as I have stressed so often, off road vehicles being driven on county roadways are an extreme danger to those riding them, and it is illegal.

"As we conduct this investigation, we continue to urge all those who ride ATVs to please do so only in a safe and legal manner so we can prevent these types of heartbreaking outcomes in the future."