AFTON, Minn. — An Afton man is charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with an ATV rollover that killed his daughter and her friend in April 2023.
A criminal complaint filed in Washington County details the allegations against 54-year-old Lance Alan Koeckeritz, who faces four felony counts in the fatal crash, which took place on the defendant's property in Afton.
Washington County squads were dispatched to an address on Neal Avenue South on the afternoon of April 22, 2023, on reports of an ATV rollover. When they arrived deputies found the mother and sibling of one victim performing CPR on the 10-year-old girls, but lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. The victims were identified as Savanna Lee Koeckeritz of Afton and Alexis “Lexi” Marie Gibson of Mahtomedi.
Investigators learned that Savanna had invited Lexi for a sleepover at her family's Afton home, and her mother was going to take the girls to a movie once she got home from work. The mother arrived home at 4:15 p.m. and couldn't locate the girls. Approximately 45 minutes later another child in the home found the girls pinned face down under an overturned ATV with a footrest on top of their neck and upper chest areas. By the time they could get the ATV off the young victims, the girls "were both cold and blue."
Neither child was wearing a helmet or protective gear. Autopsies on both Savanna and Lexi found no internal injuries or trauma, and their cause of death was found to be asphyxiation.
Prosecutors allege the defendant, Lance Koeckeritz, was in his work trailer on the property the entire afternoon, and didn't know what had happened until informed of the accident. He reportedly told detectives the kids are allowed to operate the full-sized, 800cc ATV whenever they wanted, without checking in or asking permission.
The Minnesota DNR recommends children ages 10 and 11 be limited to an ATV with an engine up to just 110cc.
Koeckeritz is charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment causing harm or death.