7-year-old crashes boat, kills mother

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - A 35-year-old mother died after her 7-year-old son accidentally crashed their powerboat into a pier on the Hampton River Sunday evening, according to police.

Virginia Marine Police Spokesman Don Bull said an adult allowed the child to briefly steer the boat as the family was returning home from a day on the water. The child veered the boat into and underneath the pier at about 6:15 p.m.

His mother, Elizabeth J. Elliott of Hampton, was sitting on the bow of the boat and took the brunt of the impact, sending her crashing through the boat's glass windshield and into the back of the boat, according to John Bull, Director of Public Relations for the Marine Resources Commission of Virginia.

Stephano Leonardi and his family were enjoying the holiday in their backyard overlooking the river when they heard the crash and saw the boat start spinning in circles.

"My father, he jumped on the jet ski to go immediately straight over there with some line to try to pull it in," said Leonardi. "A friend of mine actually went and ran and jumped in the water to swim immediately over there."

Leonardi said they pulled the boat and its stunned passengers back to their pier. He said the 7-year-old boy who had been steering the boat was screaming and his grandmother, Elliott's mother, was frantic.

"He was just like, 'Help! Help!' and the older lady, I believe it was her daughter, she was screaming, 'Help! Help!'"

Leonardi scooped the boy up in his arms. "I picked him up and grabbed him and we had to get him to land and I told some of the older women to take care of him and get him away," he said.

Back on the boat, the boy's mother was bleeding terribly. "You had people jump in there to check vital signs, I mean she was really bad off," said Leonardi.

Bull said marine police have begun piecing things together.

"The boat hit the pier and then kind of submarined underneath the pier. The woman at the front of the boat was thrown back from the collision and from the impact, apparently through a windshield of the motorboat and into the back of the vessel."

Medics took the boy's mother to Riverside Hospital were she died.

Virginia Marine Police have interviewed witnesses, and their investigation continues, Bull said. He said police will hand over all the information they collect to the Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney later in the week for a determination of whether anyone should face criminal charges.

Bull added that Virginia does not have any laws regarding age restrictions for people operating motorboats, even though there is a law that requires anyone operating a personal watercraft to be atleast 16 years old, or 14 if they have completed a personal watercraft course.