HOUSTON -- A 3-year-old child died Thursday after he was apparently struck by a rolling driftwood log on Crystal Beach.
The driftwood log shifted and began rolling down a sand dune just after 3:30 p.m. as LaShaun Lovejoy Huff and family members were walking along the beach near Monkhouse Road. The log, described as about 39 feet in length, three feet in diameter, and weighing several hundred pounds, rolled about four feet down the dune before striking LaShaun, officials said.
Sheriff’s deputies said they believe the disturbance of the sand in front of and beneath the log may have caused it to shift, rolling seaward and striking the child.
Emergency crews used four-wheel drive vehicles to push the log far enough for them to reach LaShaun. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
LaShaun’s grandfather, and a 15-year-old sibling, were injured as they tried to stop the log from rolling onto him. The teen was taken to UTMB Emergency Room in Galveston for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
LaShaun’s body was taken to the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
