article courtesy of Morning Sun & photo courtesy of 9and10News

A 4-year-old girl died early Wednesday afternoon in a three-vehicle crash in Isabella County’s Deerfield Township.

Details were not available later Wednesday afternoon as police continued investigating and reconstructing the crash at South Winn and West M-20.

Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main said a woman was driving a red Jeep, possibly north on Winn when she ran a red light and collided with a black van driven by a woman whose young daughter was apparently in a booster seat in the back seat.

The collision caused the girl to be thrown from the van and her mother was trapped inside, and the Jeep rolled to the south of M-20, landing on its side near the Deerfield Township Fire Department.

A man driving a white truck was involved after the first collision because he could not stop but he was uninjured, Main said.

Firefighters were able to get the woman out of the van and she was flown by LifeNet helicopter to the trauma unit at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland in critical condition, the sheriff said.

The woman driving the Jeep was taken by Mobile Medical Response ambulance to a Mt. Pleasant emergency department for treatment.

Paramedics treated the girl and an AeroMed helicopter from Spectrum Health was called to the scene, landing near the other in the fire department parking lot but left after the girl was pronounced dead.

Officers from the sheriff’s department, state police post in Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Pleasant Police, Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police and Central Michigan University Police assisted, keeping motorists from the scene at intersections about a mile away to the north, west and east.

Traffic was able to pass through the parking lot at Martin’s Kountry Korner, where employees directed drivers to the eastbound exit.

Winn Elementary School Principal Kim Stegman was driving north on Winn Road shortly after the accident.

She stopped to help, holding the mother’s hand and assuring her that help was on the way.

Stegman tried to keep the woman alert until help arrived and stayed on after paramedics and police got to the scene.

She was grateful for the number of paramedics, police and firefighters who got to the scene quickly.

Other people watched as rescue workers and police helped the victims, Stegman said.

“There were a lot of people saying prayers outwardly,” Stegman said.