Pickup hits and kills boy, 12, walking at night on Lake County highway

A 12-year-old Kelsey-ville boy walking alongside a darkened Lake County highway was killed before dawn Wednesday after he was struck by a pickup, CHP officials said.

The boy, identified by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as Joseph Dominic Lacoy, was struck about 3:30 a.m. as he walked along the northbound lane of Highway 29 several miles south of Lakeport, officials said.

“We’re trying to figure out why a 12-year-old is out there in the middle of the night,” CHP Sgt. Nenad Gorenec said.

Driver Eugene John Odell Jr., 38, also of Kelseyville, was heading to work when his vehicle hit the boy on the highway south of Highland Springs Road, CHP officials said. Odell assumed it was an animal and stopped to check, Officer Kory Reynolds said.

He found the boy in the brush and called 911.

Lake County sheriff’s detectives heading to a law enforcement training course happened by soon after the crash and tried CPR to revive the boy.

Investigators don’t yet know why he was walking along the road at that hour, Gorenec said.

Officers found a cellphone by him and the boy had been carrying a backpack. He had no identification, but using the boy’s cellphone they contacted his father.

There is little in the area apart from ranches, rural homes and the Westgate Petroleum gas station, which was closed at that hour. He was several miles south of Lakeport.

A preliminary investigation indicated Odell was traveling around the 55 mph speed limit, Reynolds said.

The driver also was tested at the scene for impairment, and alcohol and drugs is not believed to be a factor.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Lake County CHP at 707-279-0103.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@rossmannreport. You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@jjpressdem.