William Howard, 13, was killed when he fell off his bike at the Little League Complex on Lions Drive Saturday and hit his head.
He was trying to do a maneuver on a ramp in the when he hit his head, witnesses told Moosup police. Police are investigating the Sterling boy’s death as an accident.
William’s father, Seth Howard, told the Norwich Bulletin he was at work when it happened. He thought his son was going to the movies. Around 11:30 a.m., his wife called him and said William had been in an accident at the park.
He had no idea how bad the accident was and figured it was “a little boo-boo, maybe he needed a stitch,” he told the newspaper. It was massive brain trauma, and there were possible spine injuries, William’s father told the newspaper.
“They kept going and going. I wasn’t ready for them to stop. And the doctor said, ‘You know, even if he does come back, he’s never going to be William again,’” Seth Howard told the newspaper.
William Howard attended Sterling Community School, where he was class secretary and co-anchor of the school newscast.
Investigators told the Norwich Bulletin that it is unclear if he was wearing a helmet. Seth Howard told the paper his son was not wearing one. Under Connecticut law, anyone 15 and under riding a bicycle is supposed to wear a helmet.
