KIMBERLY (NBC 26) — At the intersection of Washington and Wallace Streets, many stopped to add to a growing pile of stuffed animals and flowers.
Police said on June 2, 9-year-old Mackenzie Van Eperen was hit and killed by a semi-tractor driven by a 59-year-old man from Kaukauna.
"They let out of school on Thursday, and this happened Friday afternoon," said Leticia Nino. "Yeah, first day of summer for these kids."
Nino is a parent of a student at Janssen Elementary. Her child was in the same grade as Mackenzie and had been in the same class in first grade.
She also saw the scene of the crash just minutes after it happened.
"I didn't see like the actual incident though. But she was already on the ground," Nino said.
Her daughter was in the car with her when she drove past, just before 3:10 p.m. on Friday.
"We were like, ‘Oh, something's going on there.’ We didn't think it was a child as we didn't see the full body," Nino said. "We did see the tractor-trailer parked closer, on the side. But we didn't think anything of that at the moment. We thought maybe somebody had passed out on the road and that's why we saw CPR taking place."
They found out later that the body was Van Eperen's, and that she died shortly after being transported to the hospital.
"My heart sank. Like, I knew that little girl... just devastating news," Nino said. "And then, definitely, we talked to my daughter about it, and she knew her; she saw part of kind of what was going on. So yeah, she took it a little hard."
Even though her daughter was no longer in the same class, Nino saw Van Eperen regularly when she volunteered at Janssen Elementary School. She remembered Van Eperen as a kind and caring person.
"I was helping supervising lunch and recess at Janssen Elementary School this year. We helped kids during their lunchtime. Sometimes... they'd come to us if they needed anything, raise their hand to go to the bathroom, or if they wanted a second portion of their lunch. Usually, I would walk around and hand out some cards so that the kids can get an extra meal. Mackenzie came up to me just on Wednesday and she said her friend did not have enough money and she wanted to purchase a sandwich for her friend that wanted a second portion," Nino said.
"She was able to purchase her friend an extra sandwich that day. So, I thought that was really sweet. She was always a really sweet kid," said Nino.
Mackenzie's girl scout troop also gathered to honor her on Sunday by creating memory stones and raising funds for the Van Eperen family. You can view or contribute to the donations at this link.
