Kentucky Toddler Killed by CSX Train on Non-Fenced Railroad Tracks
(Hopkinsville, Kentucky – January 19, 2015)
A two-year-old boy wandered away from his house after the grandmother who was allegedly caring for him fell asleep. The toddler followed a dog onto a completely unfenced railroad corridor through a Hopkinsville, KY neighborhood last Monday morning at about 9:30 A.M., EST, only to be struck by and later die from his injuries in regard to one of the 32 CSX trains that pass through the area daily at speeds as high as 60 mph.
The boy was later identified as Trayton Joiner, whose family lived in the residential area bisected by the railroad tracks, but officers had to go house-to-house in a search for the youngster’s home and parents. The boy’s home was only a few blocks from the railroad tracks, and once located, the boy’s mother was taken to Jennie Stuart Hospital in Hopkinsville where her son was being treated and who, tragically, later died from his injuries.
The dog, described as a female pit bull mix, was also injured, but was cared for at Skyline Animal Clinic and survived the tragedy. It was not known if the dog belonged to the victim’s family or if the boy merely followed the dog onto the tracks where both were struck by the train consisting of two locomotives pulling 106 empty coal hopper cars from Nashville, TN to Madisonville, KY.
CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said “It’s a tragic situation and our sympathies are with the family involved.”
