(WXYZ) — Northville’s mayor delivered a heartfelt letter to residents Friday after a 12-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree at Howell Nature Center on Thursday.

Northville Mayor Brian Turnbull said that Declan Carter had his whole life ahead of him and that “everyone did everything they could for Declan, but his energetic life was suddenly stopped.”

Full Interview: Mayor Turnbull reflects on the life of a Northville boy who was tragically killed by a tree

Full Interview: Mayor Turnbull reflects on the life of a Northville boy who was tragically killed by a tree

“I had the pleasure of knowing Declan, having visited him and his sister Georgia outside their house many times, particularly for a lemonade on hot summer afternoons. He had great academic and athletic potential (as one of the top runners). in the area) and socially as part of the fabric and DNA of Northville,” Mayor Turnbull said in the letter to the community.

Northville

Carter family photo shared by the City of Northville

Declan Carter, a sixth-grader at Our Lady of Victory School in Northville, was the son of a Northville City Council president, the mayor wrote, encouraging the community to support the Carter family.

“It is up to us to keep Declan’s spirit and memory alive in our hearts and to always have the Carter family in our prayers from this day forward. All of our Northville employees, appointed and elected, are like family. A loss for.” “One thing is felt by all, along with the rest of our close-knit community,” he wrote.

Read the full letter to the community here.

We spoke directly to Mayor Turnbull on Friday. He tells us the Northville community is grieving after the tragedy.

“We are emotional and it hurts a lot,” he said. “Embrace the people around you, embrace those you love today, you never know what tomorrow will bring.”

According to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, the 12-year-old was killed after a tree fell on him at the Howell Nature Center Thursday afternoon.

Officials said the tree struck the 12-year-old boy in the head. We’re told the boy was seriously injured and later died in hospital.

The boy was at the facility overnight for a field trip.

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Sheriff Michael Murphy says chaperones were teaching students how to start a fire when they heard a loud crack. Members of the group ran when they heard the noise, and the 20-foot-tall tree with a rotten trunk fell on the boy, hitting him in the head.

He was flown by the University of Michigan Survival Flight to Mott Children’s Hospital in critical condition before later succumbing to his injuries.

“I can’t think of any other words to say other than this is a tragic accident that just makes absolutely no sense,” Murphy said.

Residents fear it could be an old, decaying tree that has fallen. Diane Casler lives in the area and says she sees a lot of them.

“It happens, but it happens regularly,” she said. “There are some big old trees.”

The school released the following statement about the incident:

Tina Bruce, CEO of Howell Nature Center, released the following statement regarding the incident: