Fatality is first in parade's history

It was the first fatality in the 82-year history of the Rodeo Parade, parade officials said.

At about 10:22 a.m., a team of horses pulling a large wagon for the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center entry spooked, then ran into Brielle Boisvert's horse, throwing her into the path of the wagon, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Paramedics, who were just yards away when the accident occurred, went to her aid immediately, Hopffer said.

Brielle, a member of the Sonoita Rodeo Royalty parade entry, was taken to University Medical Center and pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m.

Brielle was a member of a Sonoita-Elgin-area family of equestrians and musicians. Last summer, she was chosen as "Little Miss" for Sonoita Rodeo Royalty, the group she was riding with in the parade.

At an afternoon press conference at UMC, Bob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee, said the girl was riding in violation of the parade's rules. The parade entry form includes this disclaimer: "No children walking under age of 14 or mounted under age of 8 years."

Johnson said parade organizers do not verify participants' ages, though, and assume they know the rules.

"We're going to have to monitor that," he said of the age requirement.

Organizers will also have to look at other safety issues, including additional training for livestock, Johnson said.

Tucson Police Chief Richard Miranda, speaking at the press conference, said the girl's death is under investigation, but that it is too early to determine whether criminal charges will be filed. Police have obtained some video footage of the accident and are asking anyone who may have filmed the wagon to call 911, Hopffer said.

Witnesses said Brielle was among the last riders in her parade party when paired horses pulling a wagon owned by the Tucson Rodeo Parade Museum and carrying the Fred G. Acosta Job Center entry rounded the corner at South Park Avenue onto East Irvington Road and started to speed up.

"I heard the carriage with the clicketyclack of the horses coming a little bit faster. She was the last one in the line of her parade party," said Jason Weaver, who saw the accident.

"They were at a full gallop. Those people who were controlling that carriage were like, 'Whoa! Whoa!' They were really trying to control that carriage," said Adrian Weaver, Jason's wife.

The horses bumped into the girl's horse, which may have reared up and thrown her off. The carriage appeared to roll over the girl, Jason Weaver said. He ran into the road and tried to comfort the girl. Her mother also ran to her side.

"I ran out there and said, 'Your mom is here.' I yelled out, 'Call 911!' She was lying down," Adrian Weaver said.

Meanwhile, the wagon drivers tried to get the horses under control. At one point, the horses jerked toward the crowd along the north side of the street. Maria Garcia said she feared the horses would run into her 2-year-old daughter, standing along the curb.

"I just grabbed her, and I moved back," Garcia said.

Marybeth Linn, a spectator from Michigan, said she closed her eyes after seeing the horse rear up and throw the girl off. She said the crowd gasped, then went silent.

"We wondered if we should get up and leave," Linn said.

This is the second consecutive year in which accidents have marred the Rodeo Parade.

Last year, Beth Walkup, Mayor Bob Walkup's wife, was knocked unconscious when runaway horses rammed into the horse-drawn carriage she was riding in. Her husband was also injured in the parade crash, suffering swelling to his right forearm and a bad bruise where a horse kicked him.

Thursday's accident also was the second in the same location just west of East Irvington Road and South Park Avenue. In 1992, four people were injured when spooked horses bolted from the street and into the dense crowd.

"I ran out there and said, 'Your mom is here.' I yelled out, 'Call 911!' She was lying down."

Adrian Weaver, accident witness