8-year-old girl dies after accident during Fourth of July parade, Utah police say

An 8-year-old girl has died following an accident during Kaysville’s annual Fourth of July parade, Utah police reported.

Macie Hill of Layton, Utah, was performing with her Patriot Cheer team when she was hit by a parade vehicle Monday, KSTU reported. The parade, which had just started, was canceled.

Hill later died of her injuries at a hospital, Kaysville police confirmed to McClatchy News.

“This sweet little girl will forever be in our hearts and the joy she spread to all who knew her will never be forgotten,” Mayor Joy Petro of Layton said on Facebook.

Details of the accident are unclear, with some onlookers reporting that Macie fell off a float before being struck. Police said they are continuing to investigate and would not be releasing more details.

Spectators along the route were initially confused when the parade halted 15 to 20 minutes after it started at about 10 a.m., KSL reported.

“I don’t think people understood the seriousness of the situation at first,” onlooker Shawna Dennis told KSTU.

Main Street in Kaysville remained closed for several hours for an investigation, police said in a news release.

“Macie was the youngest in her family and a princess to her three older brothers and her parents,” a GoFundMe page established to help her family pay funeral expenses said. “No parents should have to bury their little princess.”

“It’s still just hard to even wrap my brain around,” resident Rachel Dragon told KTVX. “It just feels surreal.”

Kaysville is a city of 33,000 people north of Salt Lake City.

This story was originally published July 5, 2022 at 2:19 PM with the headline "8-year-old girl dies after accident during Fourth of July parade, Utah police say."