Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

4-Year-Old Gurdon Boy Killed

A four-year-old Gurdon boy was killed in a traffic accident Friday evening.

According to reports from the Gurdon Police Department, the child, Calvin Green, apparently darted out into the street at the intersection of Main and Second, and into the path of an oncoming vehicle, driven by Justin Hughes, 18, of Arkadelphia.

The accident occurred about 7:20 p.m.

In his report, Gurdon City Marshal David Childres, stated he was at the Highway 67 and Main intersection talking with Clark County Sheriff's Deputy David Turner, when they heard screaming at Second and Main.

At about the same time, the call of an accident at the location came over the radio, with Childres and Turner going to the scene.

When they arrived, the child had been placed in the ambulance and was being readied for transport to Baptist Hospital in Arkadelphia.

Childres stated officer Andy Williams was actually the first to arrive. Turner and GPD officer Frank Plasek worked traffic and crowd control at the scene.

Childres and Turner followed the ambulance to Baptist Hospital.

While at the hospital, Childres spoke to the child's family. According to Brian Green, 17, the child was going north on Second at the time.

However, the child's uncle picked him up after the accident occurred.

The boy, according to Childres' report, was flown to Arkansas Children's Hospital around 10:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 11:08 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.

Williams, in his report, was at the ambulance service when the accident occurred.

He said he heard what sounded like a vehicle striking an object, and from the sound knew it came from Second and Main.

Approaching the scene, Williams reportedly saw a disturbance taking place on the south side.

A white Chevrolet pickup was parked in front of a lemonade stand, pointed west on Main, blocking the north bound lane of Second Street.

Williams' reports states he saw someone holding a small child on the south side of Main, and as he approached, a paramedic passed him heading toward the child.

The paramedic met the ambulance about halfway up Second Street as he had taken the child.

As the street was barricaded for Saturday's 20th Annual Forest Festival, Williams had to remove the barriers so the ambulance could get out.

He then got into the ambulance and watched the emergency medical personnel try and stabilize the child.

Williams, in his report, stated he left the ambulance and returned to the accident scene, where he talked to the driver of the truck, Hughes.

He told Hughes to go to the police station and wait until an officer came and talked with him about the accident.

Hughes reportedly told Williams he had been driving about 25 miles an hour down Main heading west when he heard his vehicle hit something at the intersection.

Hearing screams, Williams wrote in his report, Hughes pulled over and returned to the scene to see what had happened.

According to the report, Hughes never saw the child run into the street.

Hughes was cited for driving on a suspended license.