Boy killed by falling tree in Howell, identified as Declan Carter, 12

NOTRHVILLE – The 12-year-old boy who was tragically killed by a falling tree at Howell Nature Center has been identified as Declan Carter of Northville in a letter posted on social media.

Carter, a sixth-grader at Our Lady of Victory School and son of Northville City Councilman John Carter, was on an overnight trip to the nature center with classmates when the dead tree reportedly fell on him.

He was flown to University of Michigan Mott’s Children Hospital, where he died Thursday evening.

Northville Mayor Brian Turnbull posted a letter on the city’s social media page Friday morning “with a heavy heart.”

“Everyone did what they could for Declan, but his energetic life was suddenly interrupted,” Turnbull wrote in the letter. “I had the pleasure of getting to know Declan as I often visited him and his sister Georgia outside their house, especially for a lemonade on hot summer afternoons. He had great academic, athletic (as one of the best runners in the area) and social potential as part of the fabric and DNA of Northville.”

Turnbull said the Carter family also includes Declan’s mother Liz Carter and his sisters Georgia and Ainsley.

“It is up to us to keep Declan’s spirit and memory alive in our hearts and to always have the Carter family in our prayers from this day forward,” Turnbull wrote. “All of our appointed and elected employees in Northville are like family. The loss is felt by everyone and the rest of our close-knit community.”

Turnbull said he has petitioned the governor’s office to allow the city to place a flag at half-staff at City Hall in memory of Declan Carter and asked others to do the same.

“Northvillians, I urge you to come together to support the Carter family and I encourage you to hug everyone close to you today…life is precious,” he wrote in his letter.

Classes at Our Lady of Victory, a Catholic elementary school near downtown Northville, were canceled Friday, and all school sporting events were also canceled for the weekend of Sept. 27-29.

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