Boy pulled from sand pile dies

SAN ANTONIO — A 7-year-old boy died Friday evening after he was pulled from a mound of sand where he had been playing with his 5-year-old brother in rural North Bexar County.

Wyatt McDaniel, 7, was pronounced dead at University Hospital about 5 p.m., according to the county medical examiner.

Paul Berry, spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, said deputies responded to a call shortly after 4 p.m. at a horse training facility in the 400 block of Specht Road, near the Specht Road Soccer Complex.

“The brothers had been playing in the sand together when the younger son came to the father, alerting him that the older brother wasn't moving,” Berry said.

The father pulled the boy out of the mound of sand, started CPR and called authorities, Berry said. Deputies arrived shortly, continued CPR and called AirLife paramedics. The boy was in cardiac arrest.

The helicopter was sent at 4:30 p.m., but by the time the boy arrived at the hospital, he had died.

Berry said it wasn't clear if the horse farm and the family's home are on the same property.

According to online property records, Charles McDaniel owns and operates the horse facility Wild Sunday Farm on Specht Road. A photograph on the business' Facebook page that was added in May 2010 shows a small boy smiling broadly and wearing a riding hat atop a black horse.

The caption reads: “Wyatt McDaniel's very first time in the tack. He's a natural! I am so proud of my little guy! :)”

mcasady@express-news.net

Note: This story and headline has been changed to reflect updated information provided by authorities as the investigation into 7-year-old Wyatt McDaniel's death developed. Officials said the brothers were playing together when the younger boy ran to tell his father that his brother was stuck in the sand.