Dad charged after 10-year-old daughter took pal for ATV ride that ended in crash killing both girls

Charges have been filed against a man whose 10-year-old daughter took her schoolmate for a ride on a full-size ATV that ended with both girls dying in a crash on the family’s property near Afton.

Lance Alan Koeckeritz, 54, was charged Friday in Washington County District Court with two counts each of second-degree manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the wreck on April 22, 2023, that killed his daughter Savanna and 10-year-old Alexis Gibson of Mahtomedi.

Koeckeritz was charged by summons and is due in court on Aug. 19.

Reached by phone Monday, Koeckeritz told the Star Tribune he was unaware of the charges and defended allowing his daughter to operate an ATV with an 800cc engine, a much larger vehicle than what state guidelines recommend for children her age.

“Us and the kids have hundreds of hours on four-wheelers,” Koeckeritz said. “It’s the way we all grew up. … There wasn’t a lack of confidence in her abilities. She was making a left-hand turn, and a wheel got caught in a divot. It was just unforeseen.”

Koeckeritz also questioned why the County Attorney’s Office brought the charges against him, given that “we lost our daughter and her friend. It’s devastating. … The fact that the county prosecutor would even be contemplating charges is mind-blowing. Isn’t it enough that my other kids have lost our daughter due to a freak accident?”

County Attorney Kevin Magnuson declined Tuesday to field questions from the Star Tribune about the decision to charge Koeckeritz.

According to the charges:

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at a home on nearly 8½ acres of property in the 1100 block of S. Neal Avenue and saw Jennifer Koeckeritz, Savanna’s mother, and another child at the home performing CPR on the girls. Deputies and other first responders took over life-saving efforts until the girls were declared dead at the scene.

Deputies were told that Alexis arrived at the home the day before for a sleepover. Both girls were in the combined fourth- and fifth-grade class at New Heights School in Stillwater.

Lance Koeckeritz was home the day of the crash with the girls while his wife was at work. She returned home about 4:15 p.m. and couldn’t find the girls. Another child in the home found the girls about 5 p.m. pinned under the ATV and unconscious.

Detectives came to the crash scene and saw that neither girl had on protective gear while on the 2013 CFMOTO 800 as they rode on the property, which has hilly terrain and dirt trails.

“Per the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources,” the charges read, “the recommended engine size for children 10 and 11 is up to 110cc.”

Lance Koeckeritz told the detectives that the family’s children were allowed to operate the ATV when they wished without notification of an adult or permission.