A toddler riding in an ambulance that was struck by an accused drunken driver on U.S. 52 early Sunday has died, authorities said Monday evening.
Winston-Salem police were notified about the 3-year-old boy’s death about 6:05 p.m. Monday. Investigators will release more information about the case after receiving the results of an autopsy, police said.
Police did not release the toddler’s name.
Lt. Rick Newnum said the boy had been in stable condition before the crash but emerged from the wreck with life-threatening injuries. Newnum didn’t have further information about why the boy was being taken to a hospital before the crash.
The child’s grandfather, Gary Oakes of Wise, Va., spoke in a brief interview before his grandson’s death. “It’s devastating,” Oakes said.
Lyndsay Ann Oakes, 27, also of Wise, Va., the child’s mother who was injured in the crash, declined to comment before the death. She asked for privacy for herself and her family on her Facebook page.