One-year-old Madison girl killed when car struck wheelchair she was in

MADISON (WITI) -- A one-year-old Madison girl was killed on Thursday, February 14th when a car struck the wheelchair she was in.

According to Madison police, the baby girl died at a hospital, not long after the crash.

The girl's 31-year old mother told police that she was walking on the north side of E. Washington Ave. around 3:30 a.m. She was using a wheelchair to transport her daughter as she walked. The wheelchair was being used like a stroller.

The mother says she was in the 3700 block when she left the wheelchair unattended for a short period of time. She did so because she believed she had dropped a baby bottle, and she wanted to retrace her steps in an attempt to find it. She then heard a crash, and said it appeared the wheelchair rolled down a driveway and into the street.

The driver of a van, a 53-year-old McFarland man, said he did not see the wheelchair but heard a noise and realized he must have struck something. He stopped immediately, and was very distraught over the accident. There was no evidence that he was impaired.

The collision remains under investigation.