Father charged in connection to ATV crash that killed 2 girls

An Afton man has been charged in connection to an ATV crash that killed his daughter and her friend in April 2023.

Lance Koeckeritz, 54, is charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of endangering a child.

As previously reported, 10-year-olds Alexis “Lexi” Marie Gibson, from Mahtomedi, and Savanna Lee Koeckeritz, from Afton, were pronounced dead at the scene following a rollover ATV crash on the 1000 block of Neal Avenue S. in Afton on April 22, 2023.

According to the criminal complaint, Gibson had gone home with Savanna from school on Friday to have a sleepover at her house in Afton.

On Saturday, Savanna’s mother was at work but Lance told detectives he was home the entire time and in his office trailer from about 1-5 p.m. and did not hear anything while he worked. Detectives said the office was nearly soundproof.

When the mother arrived home around 4:15 p.m., she couldn’t find the two girls after looking for them for 15 minutes, the court document states.

Around 5 p.m., another child at the home found the two girls pinned under the ATV. The mother and child gave CPR to the girls until law enforcement arrived.

The mother said she found the girls pinned face down under the ATV with the footrest on their neck and upper chest area. Both “were cold and blue” when she found them, the complaint says.

Detectives said neither girl was wearing any type of ATV protective gear.

The family lives on an 8.4-acre property with worn dirt paths. Lance told detectives that the children are allowed to use the ATV whenever they want without needing to ask for permission.

The autopsies for both girls found no internal injuries or trauma, and both deaths were ruled to be asphyxia due to an ATV rollover accident.

The court filing says that Savanna was presumed to be the driver and her friend Gibson the passenger.

Lance’s next court date is a first appearance scheduled for August 19.