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Crime & Safety

Criminal Charges Filed in Trevor Smith Death

Charges have been filed against a Petaluma parent nearly nine months after the roadside death of 13-year-old Trevor Smith. Smith's parents are well-known in the Novato community.

Criminal charges were filed on Monday against Mike Krnaich of Petaluma for a June 15 vehicle accident that resulted in the death of 13-year-old Trevor Smith, according to the Press Democrat.

Krnaich, 41, was charged with two counts of felony child endangerment by the Mendocino County district attorney, nearly nine months after the fatality.

Krnaich could face a maximum prison term of seven years and four months if convicted, a prosecutor said.

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The accident occurred when Krnaich, took his daughter and some of her friends on a birthday outing to Lake Mendocino. Kranich was towing a ski boat when he ran out of gas near the Lake Mendocino exit. 

Trevor Smith, a Kenilworth Junior High student, died while helping push the vehicle. Smith fell between the pickup and the boat trailer as the vehicle gained momentum heading downhill, according to the California Highway Patrol. Smith was run over by the trailer and died at the scene.

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The second charge of child endangerment was for another boy who was also pushing the truck but was able to jump to the tailgate safely.

Smith spent the early part of his life in Novato, where his mother, Pam Caralli Smith, had grown up. Caralli Smith, a Novato High School graduate from 1981, is a hair stylist and salon owner in Novato.

Her husband, Joe Smith, is a longtime teacher in the Novato Unified School District; he taught at Lynwood Elementary last year and prior to that was a teacher at Lu Sutton for nearly 15 years.

The Smith family, including two of Trevor's older brothers, currently live in Petaluma.

Charges were filed only a day after a local fundraising organization, the Petaluma Fabulous Women, along with the Petaluma American Little League, held a dedication of a newly refurbished ballfield at Lucchesi Park, renamed Trevor Smith Field.

A home run derby was also held to raise money for the Trevor Smith Scholarship Fund, to help families in need particpate in Little League, according to the organization's Facebook page.

For more information about the ballfield dedication, click this link to the Petaluma Argus-Courier.

 

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