Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident in which a child was hit by a car Tuesday evening in Plant City.
Deputies responded to a report from the 3900 block of State Road 60 West and learned Joshua Bronson, 2, was struck by an SUV driven by his mother. HCSO spokesperson Crystal Clark said Bronson was inside the house while his mother and grandmother were testing the vehicle’s transmission by driving forward and backward alternately.
“At some point during that process they realized that the 2-year-old was no longer inside because they saw their dog in the yard,” Clark said. “They knew if the dog got outside of the house, then the 2-year-old got outside as well. Unfortunately they looked in front of the vehicle and saw the 2-year-old on the ground.”
The family called 911 and Bronson was taken to Tampa General Hospital by Medivac, but then was pronounced deceased.
It was the second time in four years a child was killed by a vehicle at that address: in 2015, a 2-year-old girl was killed after falling out of a moving van her great-grandmother was driving. Both incidents are also connected in that they involved the same family.
HCSO currently believes Bronson’s death to be accidental and no charges have been filed, but investigations are ongoing.