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Nov. 01--A 12-year-boy was killed and his friend, 11, was injured when they hopped off the back of a pickup truck into oncoming traffic during a Halloween outing in Port Bolivar, authorities said.
The Galveston County Sheriff's Office identified the boy who died as Ernesto Rodriguez, 12, of Port Bolivar. He was flown by air ambulance to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where he was pronounced dead at 9:37 p.m. Monday, sheriff's officials said. An autopsy is planned.
Rodriguez's friend, Christian Balderrama, also a sixth-grader at Crenshaw Elementary School in Crystal Beach, was listed in stable condition at the hospital.
The boys were riding in the back of a pickup truck driven by Balderrama's father in the 1800 block of Loop 108 (Broadway Street) when they decided to visit a Halloween party at the Port Bolivar Volunteer Fire Department, said sheriff's spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo.
The father, driving west on Loop 108, prepared to turn into the driveway of the fire station and apparently stopped to wait for another vehicle to pass when the boys jumped from the back of the truck and started to run across the road.
As they crossed the eastbound lane, the boys were struck by a Toyota pickup truck driven by a 52-year-old Beaumont man. The driver came to a stop a short distance away.
Port Bolivar volunteer firefighters, who were at their station, provided medical attention to the injured boys and called sheriff's deputies to the scene.
"It certainly is a very tragic turn of events," Tuttoilmondo said. "We're certainly doing everything we can to make sure we look at all aspects (of the fatality) and that we leave no stone unturned."
While it's legal for children to ride in open pickup trucks in Texas, it "is not the safest way for a child to ride in a vehicle," he said.
No charges have been filed in the case, which is under investigation. Sheriff's collision reconstruction investigators worked throughout the night examining evidence and factors that may have contributed to the accident.
Meanwhile, six grief counselors were on hand at Chenshaw Elementary on Tuesday to help students cope with the tragedy. Principal Eric Paul spoke to students in the cafeteria and individual classrooms.
"This morning, I addressed the school about the celebration of life as opposed to the sadness of death," Paul said in a prepared statement. "We want students to be able to have feelings of grief, sadness, and sorrow, but we hope they will eventually remember Ernesto for his charisma and everything he stood for. He was a very likeable kid and he will be missed."
School officials agreed Tuesday to rename the Crenshaw school gymnasium in Rodriguez's honor. The school had just started its basketball team and Rodriguez was on the squad. The school will hang his jersey -- No. 12 -- in the rafters in his memory.
Funeral arrangements and the dedication ceremony are being planned.
