- A falling tree branch killed an 80-year-old woman at Perry Park.
- A 28-year-old woman was seriously injured and taken to the hospital.
PERRY, Box Elder County — One woman was killed and another was seriously injured after a tree branch fell on them in Perry Park on Wednesday, police confirmed.
Perry Park, in Box Elder County, is typically a peaceful place where families gather, children play, and neighbors enjoy the outdoors.
But Wednesday afternoon, that calm was shattered in an instant.
"I just heard a big crack and looked over, and the tree branch was coming down," said Justin Merrell, who was at the park when the incident happened. "They didn't have any time to react or anything like that. It just hit into them and crushed the bench they were sitting on."
Perry police said the call came in just before 5 p.m. An 80-year-old woman and a 28-year-old woman were struck by the large branch, as they sat on a bench in the park near 2450 S. 900 West in Perry.
"It was probably 20 to 30 feet up, I would say," said Merrell, who rushed over to help. "After it had hit them, the grandmother was obviously kind of distraught, and there was a little 18-month-old and a 5 or 6-year-old that was just concerned about their mom."
The 80-year-old woman died at the scene. The younger woman, believed by neighbors to be her granddaughter, was taken to Brigham City Community Hospital in serious condition.
Merrell said he often brings his own children to this park, and they had just been playing in the exact spot where the branch fell earlier in the day.
"My kids come up here. They come up here with their cousins and play all the time," he said.
The bench where the two women were sitting has since been removed, and the park remains temporarily closed.
Perry's city manager told KSL the trees in the park were inspected by an arborist last year and will be inspected again as soon as possible.
Merrell said it's a heartbreaking accident.
"If they had been sitting 6 inches to the right or left, they would've missed the branch, you know," he said. "Just an unfortunate situation."
The names of the two women involved have not yet been released.
City leaders said they are still determining how long the park will remain closed.
