Utah boy dies after being hit by falling tombstone

This undated photo provided by the family via Park City Medical Center shows Carson Dean Cheney, 4, who died July 5, 2012 after a large tombstone fell and hit the boy while he and his family were visiting a historic cemetery in the Utah ski resort town of Park City. (AP/Park City Medical Center)

PARK CITY, Utah – A 4-year-old boy is dead and police are investigating after a large tombstone fell and hit the boy while he and his family were visiting a historic cemetery in a Utah ski resort town.

The incident happened Thursday evening at Glenwood Cemetery in Park City, Police Capt. Phil Kirk said.

The boy was identified as Carson Dean Cheney of Lehi.

"This tragic accident has taken the life of our energetic, sweet, beloved little boy," his grandmother, Geri Gibbs, said in a statement. "We appreciate your thoughts and prayers, but wish for privacy at this difficult time."

Kirk said an investigator was at the cemetery Friday morning looking into how and why the 6-foot-tall headstone fell.

He said family members were able to free the boy from under the fallen tombstone before emergency crews arrived, and paramedics tried to save him at the scene. The child was taken to the nearby Park City Medical Center, where he later died of his injuries.

Bruce Erickson, president of the Glenwood Cemetery Association, said the private, five-acre cemetery around the corner from a ski resort was founded by a society of silver miners in 1885. It is open to the public and still accepts burials of people connected to the mining society; however, Erickson said there was no funeral there Thursday.

Police said the family was visiting from Lehi, about an hour away. It wasn't immediately clear why they were there or if they were related to the people who placed the fallen headstone.

Erickson said the headstone was probably historic, and officials aren't sure whether the family that placed it still exists. He said the cemetery likely would be closed through the weekend.