A 9-year-old boy is dead after a single-vehicle crash on Loop 1781 just outside of Rockport on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Just after 5 p.m., Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded to the crash. Investigators determined that Gary Gill, 77, of Florida, was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe west on Loop 1781 at an unsafe speed as he approached a curve.
The Tahoe failed to negotiate the curve, left the roadway and vaulted over a culvert, sending the vehicle airborne before it struck a power utility pole and fence.
Troopers say neither Gill nor the 9-year-old male passenger were wearing seatbelts, which caused the boy to be ejected from the vehicle.
Both Gill and the child were transported to Christus Spohn Shoreline Hospital in Corpus Christi with critical injuries.
Just after 7 p.m., doctors pronounced the 9-year-old deceased from injuries sustained in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation by troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Office in Refugio.
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