A mother and father were killed in a horrific ATV crash that also injured seven of the 11 kids they shared, according to officials.
Marcus Ragland and Ashley Hawkins, from Georgia, died when the side-by-side RZR vehicle they were in smashed into another ATV while off-roading Saturday afternoon at Indian Mountain ATV Park in Piedmont, Alabama, WANF reported.
Ragland was speeding when he crashed, sending the ATV careening 150 feet before it flipped over and smashed into a tree, according to officials, who are awaiting tests to see if he was driving drunk.
Mom of three Ashley Hawkins and her husband, Marcus Ragland, who had 10 kids, both died in the crash. Ashley Hawkins / FacebookNeither the parents nor the seven kids with them — who ranged in age from a baby to the eldest at 12 — were wearing seatbelts, which is not required in the park.
Still, Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said, “I’m sure that it’s not recommended to have nine people, especially young children, in a RZR not using safety harnesses.”
Ragland was thrown from the driver’s seat and pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was airlifted to a hospital, where she later died. All seven kids were hospitalized, with four airlifted, the outlet said.
There were nine people riding in the ATV when it crashed, officials said. GofundmeRagland was a father of 10 and Hawkins a mother of three, including two with Ragland, the outlet said.
“This is just so hard to deal with. It’s just so hard,” Ragland’s mom, Felecia Towers, told WANF.
Maya Boyett, a longtime friend of both, said it was “tragic both of them are gone.”
“They are both two good people, good to their kids, and I really hate that they’re gone now,” she said.
Ragland’s 13-year-old son suffered a skull fracture. His 10-year-old daughter was left with a broken collarbone and his 2-year-old daughter has spleen injuries, WANF reported
The two people in the other ATV were not injured and tried to render aid, according to officials.
The location of the accident was remote and difficult to access, requiring ATV park staff to escort emergency personnel to the crash site, according to the coroner’s office.
Indian Mountain ATV Park is in in the Appalachian Mountain range. At just over 7 square miles, it’s one of the largest private off-road parks in the South.
