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Boy sleeping on top bunk killed when tree falls during powerful nor’easter

Posted at 6:17 PM, Mar 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-02 18:17:35-05

CHESTER, Va. -- Six-year-old Anthony Hamilton diedat a Virginia hospital after a tree fell onto his family's home Friday morning during a powerful nor'easter, according to WTVR.

Anthony was sleeping on the top of a bunk bed he shared with siblings when the tree crashed into the mobile home, partially caving in the roof. His siblings were able  to escape the bedroom alive.

"She (Anthony's mom) got the girls out. She tried to get the tree off of Anthony by herself and she just couldn’t do it," Anthony's grandmother, Dawn Summerfield, said. “She’s guilt ridden. She said, 'I just couldn’t get it off of him, I tried.'"

Family members called Anthony a "bright and shining light" who loved race cars, Minions and anything to do with video games. Summerfield said he had "the biggest heart of any 6-year-old you’ll ever meet."

Rescue crews were called to the family's Cliffside Drive home at about 2 a.m. Firefighters had to stabilize the large tree with wood blocks prior to cutting the legs off the boy's bed to free him, according to a Chesterfield Fire and EMS spokesperson.

Anthony did not have a pulse when he was rescued, Chesterfield Police Lt. Brad Conner said, but first responders were able to regain a pulse en route to the hospital.

Anthony later died with his family by his side at VCU Medical Center, relatives confirmed.

"I saw his face and it wasn't moving," neighbor Jeffrey Bustillo said. The tree also partially damaged the Bustillo's family home next door, but no one was injured.

"If it fell in the middle of the trailer, I don’t know if I would be standing here right now," Bustillo said.

Wind gusts will be between 40 and 60 mph on Friday, with higher gusts near the coast, the mountains, and in northern Virginia. A wind advisory is in effect for areas just west and southwest of Richmond for gusts 40 to 55 mph.