Neighbors said the cable fence that killed Munoz was supposed to keep out cars that would drive on the grass.
EVERETT, Wash. — Days after 13-year-old Emiliano Munoz died after colliding with a braided metal cable that fenced his family’s yard, several middle and grade school-aged kids stopped by his memorial to pay their respects before attending his funeral.
“I really miss him,” said Jonathan Losoda. “We played together. We used to ride bikes and now he’s up there. He liked especially blue Takis because I like it, and he always shared it. I miss everything about him.”
The cable hit Munoz’s throat, severing his trachea. He died at the hospital despite life saving efforts.
“It was an accident, a very sad accident,” said Nick Hughes, a nextdoor neighbor.
Hughes has an eight-year-old daughter and a baby on the way.
“I wouldn’t know what I would want to hear in that situation,” Hughes said. “I’m just so sorry.”
According to neighbors, the cable fence was installed a few years ago and ran along the property’s front yard and connected to a series of yellow bollards that surrounded the grass.
Neighbors said cars would notoriously cut across the family’s yard when they made a wrong turn.
“It was to stop people from driving on their lawn,” Hughes said. “I don’t know if it was the neighbors that put it up. It never crossed my mind there’d be an issue.”
Now the cable fence is down; most of it was removed shortly after the incident.
“If he was still here, I just want to say to him, I’m super proud of him and that I miss him and that he was a good friend,” Losoda said.
Everette police is investigating the incident. As of Sunday evening, KING 5 does not know who installed the fence.