15-year-old riding ATV with friend dies after it flips on steep hill, SC officials say

A teenager died after the ATV he was riding flipped and landed on him, South Carolina officials say.

Ashton Tafoya, 15, was riding the four-wheeler up a “steep hill” with a friend near his home in Belton on May 26 when the accident happened, the Anderson County Coroner’s Office said in a news release.

First responders arrived at the scene at about 6 p.m. “for a victim in cardiac arrest,” following an ATV crash, the release said.

Tafoya was taken to a hospital but was declared deceased at 7:35 p.m., due to a “traumatic brain injury and skull fracture.”

He was a freshman at Palmetto High School and a member of the marching band, “where he made friends and was loved by all,” an obituary read. “Ashton was naturally talented in music, playing both the trumpet and guitar. He was known by his friends and family to have a good attitude, smart, witty, was unfiltered and had an amazing personality.”

“He was fearless,” it read, adding that he “lived his life by his favorite saying, ‘Hang on this will be fun’.”

An investigation into Tafoya’s death is ongoing, officials said.

Belton is roughly 110 miles northwest of downtown Columbia.

This story was originally published May 29, 2023 at 2:52 PM with the headline "15-year-old riding ATV with friend dies after it flips on steep hill, SC officials say."