By HEATHER PYLES, Staff Writer
Somerset — A teen and her unborn child who were killed last week by a falling tree in downtown Somerset were laid to rest.
On Monday, family and friends gathered to honor and remember Kaitlyn Griffin, 17, and her unborn son, Nicholas Ayden Steele nearly a week after the two were killed by a falling tree that was snapped in two by high winds.
Griffin, who was about six months pregnant at the time of the incident, was killed last Wednesday when she was struck by the large tree on Jasper Street while moving into an apartment in the Colonial Village area. Griffin’s cousin, 15-year-old Josh Thacker, was struck as well, but he survived.
Both Griffin and her son Nicholas were pronounced dead at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital about an hour apart from each other after medical workers tried to save Nicholas by emergency C-section.
Griffin, a student at Pulaski Central High School, had received her high school diploma only the day before she was killed, and she was planning to attend college.
Griffin and Nicholas’ funerals were held Monday afternoon at Science Hill United Methodist Church. Burials for both were in the Lakeside Memorial Gardens.
The community has been reeling from the sudden loss of several young people. In late November, the burned body of Kevin Price, 21, of Science Hill was discovered in a remote area off Strawberry Road in eastern Pulaski County. Price had been missing since Nov. 9 after he went missing after leaving his workplace.
An investigation into that case is continuing.
Last Sunday, Dec. 5, 16-year-old Bailey Haynes, also a student at Central, was killed in a two-vehicle car crash south of Burnside. She was laid to rest on Thursday.
