Stoughton toddler killed while crossing street may have run into truck’s side

By Dan Adams, Globe Correspondent

A 3-year-old Stoughton girl who was killed Friday while crossing a road with her mother near an elementary school may have run into the side of a box truck as it passed in front of her, said a spokesman for Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey, supporting initial reports that the truck’s driver is unlikely to be charged.

Shayla Lutz was crossing Route 27 near the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School with her mother at about 2:45 p.m. Friday when the incident occurred. They were not in a crosswalk, officials said Friday, though two are located nearby.

Preliminary information gathered from witnesses suggests that the girl was not hit head-on by the truck, but ran ahead of her mother and into the side of the moving vehicle behind the driver’s door, said David Traub, a spokesman for Morrissey, in a phone interview today.

The girl was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, where she was pronounced dead, Morrissey’s office said Friday.

Traub said that the girl’s mother, whose name was not released, was pushing a stroller that held a younger child at the time of the fatal accident. That child and the mother were not injured.

The driver, who did not appear to be impaired, stopped after the accident and cooperated with police, officials said Friday. He was driving the truck for Angelos Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, LLC, a Stoughton company.

“The Angelos Family is devastated and in shock over this horrible accident,” said the company in an emailed statement. “They send out their sincere condolences for the little girl and her family. Our hearts and prayers are with everyone affected by this horrible accident.”

A woman who answered a phone line associated with the company declined to give her name, but called the accident “horrible” and said “everyone is devastated.”

She would not identify the driver, but said “he’s as to be expected; he’s very distraught.”

Stoughton police are investigating the incident with the help of the State Police collision analysis and reconstruction unit. The final results of the inquiry, which are not expected for several weeks, will determine whether formal charges will be filed against the driver. However, Traub said there were no plans to charge the driver, given the information gathered so far.

“The evidence at the scene, interviews with eye witnesses, and other investigation by the Stoughton Police, State Police and Norfolk District Attorney’s Office does not support criminal charges in this incident at this time,” Morrissey said in a statement Friday night. “The investigation has not produced evidence that speed or impairment were a factor in this collision.”

Witnesses and workers at nearby shops said the stretch of Route 27 where the girl was killed is dangerous. Residents said they had never seen a crossing guard in the area.