By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

WINONA -- By the time the investigation is complete, Logan County Sheriff Pat Parsons expects the death of a 4-year-old Winona boy to ultimately be classified as a tragic accident.

Simon Malachi Smith died July 2 at Wichita's Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis, where he was taken after the full extent of his injuries became apparent at the Logan County Hospital in Oakley.

Initially, medical help had been summoned because it was thought Simon had been hurt in a bicycle accident.

Instead, he told ambulance personnel on the way to Oakley -- 22 miles from Winona, a community of fewer than 200 people in western Logan County -- he had been run over by a tractor-trailer truck.

Parsons said the investigation into the accident still is not complete, pending results from an autopsy conducted at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita.

Parsons, however, anticipates Simon's death will be a case of a young child, perhaps just learning to ride a bicycle, accidentally careening into the street just as a truck was passing by.

In all likelihood, Parsons said, the driver of the truck had no idea he hit the child.

Because of the way the events unfolded, however, it's going to be nearly impossible to come up with an exact answer.

By the time law enforcement authorities determined the full extent of what had happened and arrived in Winona, which has sand streets, the accident scene had been virtually destroyed -- more than 20 vehicles had driven over the area, and children had been drawing in the sand.

The autopsy, Parsons said, will detail the extent of Simon's injuries. It is known he suffered leg and pelvic injuries.

What is known about the accident is that a resident of Winona happened to come along and saw Simon laying in the street, in front of his residence. That was about 9 p.m. July 1.

That resident called 911 and reported there had been a bicycle accident, which prompted the ambulance to respond.

But as he was being driven to Oakley, accompanied by four emergency medical technicians, Parsons said "Simon kept saying over and over that he couldn't get his bike stopped and was run over by a semi."

One of the EMTs called the sheriff's office and reported the new details of the accident. Because the ambulance was just 10 minutes away, a deputy waited, hoping to talk to the child, who instead was rushed into the emergency room.

By then, light was failing and the deputy rushed to Winona, only to find people had been milling about the accident scene.

"The only thing we had was Simon's statement," Parsons said. "He was conscious the whole time."

Parsons said it appears, however, that Simon had been riding his bicycle on concrete around a shop next to his house; that building is only about 10 feet from the street. The drive leading from the building to the street is fairly steep, he said, and could have sent a bicycle careening out into the street.

Parsons said he is not listing the accident as a hit-and-run.

"Whoever did it may not know," Parsons said.

Authorities do think they know who might have been driving down the street, and Parsons said an individual did come forward and said he was driving down the street, but didn't know if he was driving the vehicle that might have hit Simon. Because of that, Parsons said he would not identify the individual.

"I'm not going to classify it as a hit and run," the sheriff said. "The boy came out from a blind spot as the semi came by and went under the back wheels.

"I'm going to rule it a traffic -- pedestrian, semi -- accident."

Either way, Parsons said the accident has been difficult for the community.

"It's a terrible tragedy," he said, noting it's especially difficult in a small community. "Anytime a child is involved, it's a bad deal."