‘A great, kind student.’ 8-year-old dies after vehicle runs off the road, hits tree
An 8-year-old boy was killed after a single-vehicle accident on Parkers Mill Road in Lexington Tuesday afternoon, according to Lexington police.
The Fayette County Coroner’s office has identified the boy as Ritter Polston. He died at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital at 5:25 p.m. due to traumatic head and torso injuries. Polston was a student in Woodford County, according to the school superintendent.
The accident happened at Parkers Mill Road and Dedman Lane near the Blue Grass Airport, according to Lt. Daniel Truex with the Lexington Police Department. Three minors were in a vehicle which left the road and struck a tree.
All three minors were taken to the hospital, Truex said. All the children were siblings, according to Woodford County Schools’ Superintendent Danny Adkins.
The other two individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Truex said.
The road was shut down for hours and reopened at 7:20 p.m., Truex said.
‘He was just a great, kind student.’
Adkins said he visited Polston’s school Wednesday morning and the staff was shaken up.
“He was just a great, kind student,” Adkins said. “Many friends, very kind to everyone he encountered. Just very well thought of by the teachers and the staff at the school.”
The crisis management team was activated and is on campus Wednesday. Adkins said the team will stay at the school for as long as necessary.
“We have to be there as models of support for our students as adults, as teachers, as educators,” Adkins said. “We deal with bad situations every day, but nothing like this.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to collect funds for funeral expenses. The creator of the page, Amanda Douglas, said Polston was a sweet, quiet child “who would make your heart melt.”
“I am so thankful for being able to be apart of his life. He was such a sweet, smart and loving little boy. He could light up a room with his smile,” Douglas wrote.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 7:26 AM.
