12-Year-old killed in ATV accident

BUCHANAN, Mich. -- A 12-year-old year old who was seriously injured in an ATV accident has died.

Dawson Eliason would have been a seventh grader at Buchanan Middle School.

Buchanan is a small, tight knit community and some of Dawson's friends said it will be a tough day going back to school tomorrow.

"Really, really hard. It isn't going to be fun," Austin Lloyd said.

He will have to walk the halls tomorrow without one of his best friends.

"A good friend. He always put a smile on your face when you walked into school," said Lloyd.

Eliason died in an ATV accident at the 2300 hundred block of Walton Road in Buchanan.

The Berrien County Sheriff's Department said Dawson hit a parked car at the residence, was ejected from the ATV and was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was not wearing a helmet.

Lloyd said he will always remember Dawson for his contagious laugh and sense of humor.
"He always made you laugh. He was really funny," said Lloyd.

The Berrien County Sheriffs Department released a statement saying Dawson was riding the ATV unsupervised and in Michigan anyone under the age of sixteen riding without supervision is illegal. The case is still under investigation.