By JOSH AULT
6 News Reporter
MAYNARDVILLE (WATE) - An investigation is underway after a two-year-old girl was hit and killed in her own driveway.
The accident happened at 511 Luttrell Road in Maynardville shortly after 1:00 Thursday afternoon.
Investigators said a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by Candace Skeen, 33, ran over two-year-old Allison Ortiz.
According to family friends, Skeen worked with the child's father at El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant in Maynardville. It was common for her to help the family travel to work and other places.
Donna Hamilton and Debbie Thacker live next door to where the accident happened.
"You could hear them," said Hamilton. "My kids were in the backyard in the pool. I saw the ambulance come around and there were all kinds of people back here, over on the other side of the fence."
"I saw the ambulance driver pulling the gurney," said Thacker. "It had a small child on it and I could tell the child was little because it had its little feet."
Allison was transported to UT Medical Center where she later died from her injures.
Neighbors said the family kept to themselves and that it was just about a month ago that the little girl was seen playing in the yard.
"It's awful," said Hamilton. "That just makes you appreciate your own kids and knowing where they are at."
"I pray for them, and hopefully, you know, that a lot of people can learn that they really need to keep track where their children are," said Thacker.
Tennessee Highway Patrol is in the early stages of the investigation. The only information they offered in the case is that Skeen was pulling out of the driveway when she hit Allison.
Friends said the family had one other child besides Allison.
Investigators said a 2001 Ford Explorer driven by Candace Skeen, 33, ran over two-year-old Allison Ortiz in this driveway.
"I saw the ambulance come around and there were all kinds of people back here, over on the other side of the fence," said neighbor Donna Hamilton.
Allison Ortiz (source: family)
