NORTHVILLE, Mich — Northville’s mayor released a statement Thursday mourning the death of the 12-year-old who died after a tree fell on him.

Northville Mayor Brian P. Turnbull said he knew the boy because he met him and his sister many times for lemonade outside their home. The mayor said the boy, whom he identified as Declan Carter, had great academic, athletic and social potential.

Declan died from his injuries after a tree fell on him during his school’s field trip on Thursday, September 26 at Howell Nature Center.

“All of our appointed and elected employees in Northville are like family. “A loss is felt by everyone and the rest of our close-knit community,” Turnbull said.

Turnbull is asking the governor’s office to fly City Hall flags at half-staff in Declan’s honor.

His detailed, heartfelt statement can be read below:

Northvillians,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you this morning with the sad news of one of our young Northvillians who had his whole life ahead of him.
Tragically, a tree fell on sixth-grader Declan Carter during a field trip from Our Lady of Victory School to the Howell Nature Center yesterday and he was airlifted to Mott’s Children Hospital at the University of Michigan. Everyone did what they could for Declan, but his energetic life was suddenly interrupted.
I had the pleasure of meeting Declan as I had often visited him and his sister Georgia outside their house, especially for a lemonade on hot summer afternoons. As part of the fabric and DNA of Northville, he had great academic, athletic (as one of the best runners in the area) and social potential.
All of us at City Hall send our thoughts and prayers to the family, including his father John Carter (an esteemed city council leader), his mother Liz Carter and his sisters Georgia and Ainsley.
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 Northville’s appointed and elected employees are like family. The loss is felt by everyone and the rest of our close community.
I have asked the Governor’s Office to allow us to fly our flag at half-staff at City Hall in memory of our beloved Northerner Declan Carter, and I am asking everyone in the Ville to do the same.
Northvillians, I urge you to come together to support the Carter family and I encourage you to hug everyone close to you today…life is precious.
With a crying and sad heart that represents all of Northville, we all feel the loss of young Northvillian Declan Carter.

Brian P. Turnbull, Mayor of Northville