5-year old killed by School Bus

This from the Paducha Sun (subscription):

SYMSONIA, Ky. — Keeton Mathis loved to help out.

He would work with his great-grandmother in the garden or just as happily make chocolate oatmeal cookies with her.

He was curious.

On a trip to Pizza Inn with his great-aunt on Thursday he pointed to a passing car hauler and asked how the cars got all the way to the top.

He was smart.

He could spell his name and was learning to write it at Clark’s River Baptist Church’s preschool. He knew people’s telephone numbers by heart.

He was funny.

He joked with his pastor at Symsonia United Methodist Church about a certain kind of candy he liked to pick out of a jar after the children’s sermon each week. He asked Santa Claus for a Kirby vacuum cleaner.

Keeton Mathis, 5, of Symsonia died Thursday afternoon at Lourdes hospital in Paducah after a school bus hit him while crossing the road in front of his home on Symsonia Road, about one mile east of Symsonia.

Keeton was crossing back to his home from the mailbox at 4:22 p.m., Graves County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said. The bus was dropping off his 13-year-old sister. Students from Graves County High School and Graves County Middle School were on board, Graves County schools spokesman Paul Schaumburg said.

Symsonia firefighters rushed to the scene, along with the Mayfield-Graves County Emergency Medical Service. They performed CPR on Keeton but could do nothing to save him.

Keeton’s body will undergo an autopsy today in Madisonville.

The sheriff’s department and state police continued to investigate the scene where Keeton was hit. Officers had not released the bus driver’s name late Thursday.

Family and friends quickly gathered at the hospital, hugging, crying and telling stories about Keeton that made them laugh and then cry some more.

His great-aunt, Brenda Thomasson, recalled his love of the movie “Annie” and how excited he was to see the play at the Carson Four Rivers Center a few weeks ago.

Keeton turned 5 on Saturday and was going to have a party this weekend with friends at Lakeland Gymnastics. He was excited about getting to jump on the trampoline.

“He was a delightful little child,” Thomasson said. “He’s touched a lot of lives in five years. I don’t know what we’re going to do without him.”