Funeral held for 5-year-old Maryland boy killed in bouncy castle tragedy

LA PLATA, Maryland (7News) — Funeral services were held Friday morning for Declan Hicks, the five-year-old Maryland boy who was killed two weeks ago during a baseball game in Charles County when a bouncy castle was thrown 20 feet into the air.

The funeral service was held at 11 a.m. at the South Potomac Church.

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The bouncy castle was part of a children's play area at Regency Furniture Stadium, where the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs minor league baseball team was playing when the tragedy occurred on August 2.

Jennifer Harris, spokeswoman for Charles County government, said an emergency call came in at 9:21 p.m. after a gust of wind hurled the bouncy castle about 15 to 20 feet into the air, causing children to fall out before it landed.

Pictures show that the bounce house came to a stop in right field near the foul post. The children's playground is located to the right of right field.

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Both Hicks and a 6-year-old child were taken by helicopter to Children's National Hospital in DC, where Hicks was pronounced dead. The other child is expected to survive, Harris said.

The La Plata Blue Knights will dedicate their upcoming fall season to the memory of Hicks.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Hicks' family and has so far raised over $46,000.

The incident is being investigated by the Maryland Department of Labor.