6-year-old dead after what deputies call a tragic accident

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The family of a young West Michigan girl is still in shock after she was struck and killed by a van over the holiday weekend.

Deputies say Kaia Gard, from Benton Harbor, ran out in front of a van Monday afternoon on M-152 near Sister Lakes. That van tried to swerve out the way, but couldn't, and Kaia died at the scene.

The investigation into the accident is continuing.

The victim's grandfather says the family was already having a hard time, the father is unemployed, and the mother was in Massachusetts when the accident occurred.

The sheriff's office is calling the incident a tragic accident.

"She was playing with a bunch of friends I guess, at a neighbor's home," said Sgt. Wayne Polomcak of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department.

Kaia was six years old and had to cross M-152 to get back to her grandparents' home. The sheriff's department says she ran through some weeds and up a hill before popping into traffic.

"There was a witness heading eastbound that saw the whole thing, said he had no time to react whatsoever," said Sgt. Polomcak.

On Tuesday, a piece of the Toyota's right headlight still sits close to where the minivan hit Kaia, and where she died, just a few hundred feet from her family.

"It was really sad," said Mae Beilman, a neighbor, "I mean, you know, your heart goes out to anybody with a child."

The sheriff's department says that the driver that struck Kaia was obeying the speed limit and did not get cited.

"I couldn't handle it, especially if I was the one that hit the little girl, I wouldn't think I would ever be able to handle it,' said Beilman.

The driver of the minivan that hit Kaia was a 72-year-old man visiting from the Detroit area. The Secretary of State's Office says he has no points on his license, and will not be cited for the accident.

"The father was very distraught, of course, at the time," said Sgt. Polomcak.

"He came up running from the lake, and he went back," said Beilman, "ran back to the lake and jumped in."

Beilman says deputies and others living nearby had to rescue Kaia's father from the water.

"He was just screaming and hollering and crying," said Beilman, "they had to jump in after him and pull him back out."

The victim's family says Kaia's father remains under mental evaluation at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph.