Father, 4-year-old son struck, killed by train

A father and his 4-year-old son were struck and killed by a CSX freight train Wednesday, according to Trenton police.

Robert Stacey Brown, 33, was carrying a stroller -- with son Robert Coy Brown still in it -- across railroad tracks Potter Avenue and State Street at about 5:10 p.m. when they were hit by the train, police Chief Timothy Traud said.

The child was taken by helicopter to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Traud.

Other family members were there, but did not see the accident, he said. Police are interviewing two witnesses, Traud said.

“The male picked (up) the stroller the child was in and attempted to cross the tracks in front of the train,” Traud said. “They were thrown by the train, by the impact.”

The train, which was headed to Cincinnati from Lima, had three locomotives and 55 cars, CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said Wednesday night. He had no information about the train's speed or what it was carrying, but said CSX is working with Trenton police in its investigation of the accident.

Traud said all of the locomotives have cameras and police will be requesting to view the footage of the crash. It was too soon in the investigation to say how close Brown and the child were to the train when the accident occurred or how fast the train was moving.

The coroner was called to the scene and police were continuing their investigation into the evening, Traud said.

“The incident is pretty unusual for the city of Trenton,” he said. “We don’t have a lot train-pedestrian or train-car crashes. Traud said he’s been in the city 31 years and “I only remember seven or eight” incidents involving either kind of accident.