ST AUGUSTA, Minn. — A 13-year-old boy is dead after being run over at a haunted hayride Saturday night near St. Cloud.
The Stearns County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to reports of an accident on the grounds of the annual Harvest of Horror Haunted Hayride in St. Augusta just after 7:30 p.m. A 911 caller reported that a teen had been run over by a trolley wagon that was being pulled by a tractor.
Event staff and bystanders, which included an off-duty police officer and an off-duty medic, jumped in and immediately began lifesaving treatment, officials said. They were soon joined by paramedics and fire-rescue personnel, but the young victim — identified by the sheriff's office as 13-year-old Alexander Mick — was declared dead on the scene.
Investigators from the Stearns County Sheriff's Office are looking into the circumstances surrounding Mick's death and how he ended up under the trolley wagon.
St. Augusta is located approximately nine miles southwest of St. Cloud.
An obituary written for Alexander - or "Xander" - describes him as an active 8th-grader at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School who was involved in band, choir, robotics, soccer, Taekwondo and Boy Scouts, where he was on the verge of becoming an Eagle Scout. He was also very involved in his faith community, where he worked with kids and played in the praise band.
"Xander was always so helpful, scientific, very techy, loved computers, was full of energy, had a great sense of humor and an infectious smile. He loved Jesus with all his heart and shared that with others," reads the obituary published on the Williams Dingmann Funeral Home website. "Xander was kind, very polite, unique, creative, investigative, and saw the good in everyone. He always tried to be first to say, 'Love you more.'”
Alexander "Xander" Mick is survived by his parents and two brothers, both sets of grandparents and multiple aunts, uncles and cousins. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 21, 2024 at Discovery Church in Sauk Rapids.