Accident victim remembered as 'sweet little fellow'

July 05, 2004|by TAMELA BAKER

tammyb@herald-mail.com

BOONSBORO - Like most 11-year-old boys, Zachary Beard liked baseball and basketball.

He liked cinnamon toast, too, according to family friend Darlene Miller of Boonsboro.

Miller had known the Boonsboro youth since he was an infant, she said. That's when her mother started baby-sitting him.

"He'd always ask for cinnamon toast when he came home from school," she said.

"And he loved computers. He loved computers. But there was one thing he loved more, and that was his four-wheeler."

It was an accident on his all terrain vehicle that claimed the boy's life and injured two playmates Saturday.

"I'm kind of lost for words," Miller said Sunday. "He was my boy."

His great-aunt, Shirley Beard, also of Boonsboro, had few words herself.

"They were just good little boys; that's all I can say."

The Washington County Sheriff's Department reported that Beard died from injuries received when he and two friends were riding two ATVs near the boy's Wheeler Road home and struck each other head-on.

All three were wearing helmets when the crash occurred, police said. Zachary was pronounced dead at Washington County Hospital. The other children were flown to hospitals by the Maryland State Police.

One of the injured boys, Tyler Hollis, 8, of Boonsboro, was flown to Johns Hopkins Children's Center, where he was listed in good condition Sunday afternoon. Police did not release the name of the third injured boy.

Zachary had just finished sixth grade at Boonsboro Christian Academy and planned to enter seventh grade at Boonsboro Middle School this fall, Miller said.

"He was just a sweet little fellow - I loved him to death," Miller said. "He was a special person. He loved people."

He also loved activities at the church his family attended, the Church of Christ at Hagerstown on White Hall Road, Miller said.

"Him and his dad and his little brother would get up in front of the church and sing," she said.

Zachary was a member of the church's praise team and its Holding on to the Truth Group.

He also played at South Mountain Little League.

"We're not supposed to ask why," Miller observed, "but we do, don't we?"

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