4-year-old from Denver killed while on vacation in Boston

DENVER (KDVR) — A 4-year-old from Denver was killed while her family was on vacation in Boston over the weekend.

Authorities in Massachusetts identified the girl as Gracie Gancheva, who was hit by a Ford pickup truck on Sunday. Gracie was walking with her family behind a museum in the city before she was struck.

It happened near the Boston Children’s Museum. Gracie was taken to an area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

The district attorney in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, said in a statement: “It’s difficult to adequately express the scope of tragedy in losing someone so young. My staff and I extend our deepest condolences to Gracie Gancheva’s family, friends, and loved ones.”

A witness, John Pellecchia, spoke with Boston 25 News and described the incident as the worst he’s ever seen, saying the child’s mother was right there when it happened.

“She was holding the baby,” Pellecchia said. “She was holding the baby like this and screeching. It was just — it was ungodly, and I looked at the baby and I just couldn’t recognize anything. It was horrible.”

The sidewalk behind the museum where the incident happened is said to be very narrow.

“What I heard was the baby might have slipped and fell and, you know, that’s when the truck was coming by, and through no fault of the driver — the driver, my heart goes out to him too,” Pellecchia said. “I saw them giving CPR to a little 4-year-old girl, you know. It was bad. It was really bad.”

Police said the driver of the pickup truck stayed at the scene after the crash. As of Wednesday, no charges had been filed.

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