12-year-old boy dies in a lifting accident

Elijah Brown, athlete and straight-A student, ‘had a smile that would just light up the room,’ pastor says.Twelve-year-old Elijah Brown died trying to become a better athlete.

After playing catch with his grandfather in front of his Huntington Beach home Nov. 17, Elijah went into the garage to use his father’s weight-lifting machine.

He was found minutes later, crushed underneath a heavy barbell that was loaded with an estimated 150 pounds.

The weights had been set for Elijah’s father, Thomas Brown, and the load was much too heavy for his son to lift, he said.

The equipment has a safety locking device that was not in place when Elijah attempted to use the machine, Brown said.

Elijah was an athlete. He played football and had recently earned a brown belt in karate. Elijah wanted to “bulk up,” and Brown had worked with his son on the weights before. Brown supervised Elijah, and he was always told not to lift alone or without a spotter, Brown said.

Elijah had just finished throwing the football with his grandfather when he went into the garage and his grandfather went into the house to finish a plumbing project, said Huntington Beach Police Lt. Craig Junginger.

The grandfather, Fred Escondon, came out of the house minutes later to find his grandson trapped underneath the barbell. He managed to lift the weight off the boy and move him onto the ground, then performed CPR, Junginger said.

When paramedics arrived, Elijah was in cardiac arrest. He was treated at the scene and taken to Huntington Hospital, where he died, police said.

The driveway of the Brown home was crowded with the cars of friends and family Friday. Elijah’s father spoke to reporters outside the family’s home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Huntington Beach.

“He was just a content, happy kid,” Brown said.

Elijah was a seventh-grader at Bethany Christian school in Huntington Beach, where he was a straight-A student. He played football with the local Junior All-American team and dreamed of someday playing for the Denver Broncos.

“It was a kid this wasn’t supposed to happen to,” Brown said. “He had a really bright future ahead of him.”

Dallas Kruse, the Brown family’s pastor, said Friday that Elijah was a leader in both church and school.

“He just had a smile that would just light up the room,” said Kruse, 27, of Costa Mesa.

Kruse helped train Elijah for sports and acted as his private football and running coach.

When Kruse was hospitalized for nearly a year with mercury poisoning, Elijah and his family provided constant encouragement.

“He would call me and say, ‘Hey man, I’m thinking about you, let’s go out and run,’” Kruse said.

Students at Bethany Christian had the day off Friday for parent conferences. Principal Trish Harnish had the task of calling parents and delivering the tragic news to the small school community.

“He was a great kid,” Harnish said.

Family and friends planned to hold a memorial service for Elijah Wednesday at Crystal Cove State Park, followed by a gathering at Lake Park in Huntington Beach.