Man Arrested In Boy's Air-Bag Death

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The driver of a pickup that slammed into a car in October, inflating the car's air bag and killing a 7-year-old boy, has been indicted for second-degree manslaughter, even though the county medical examiners concluded an air bag was responsible for the death of Garrick William Case-Scott.

Investigators believe Dax Herrera, 19, was intoxicated and speeding when the hit-and-run crash occurred.

Tori Lynn Scott, 26, of Chiloquin, had just picked up Garrick from school Oct. 6 and was driving when Herrera's pickup collided with the car. The passenger-side air bag deployed, breaking the boy's neck.

Even though the boy wasn't wearing a seat belt, Klamath County's medical examiner, Dr. Robert Edwards, said the air bag was directly responsible for his death.

The boy's death was the first air-bag fatality in Oregon. Charges against Herrera were delayed by an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.