Father Runs Over Toddler in Excavator Accident

PITTSBURGH – A 2-year-old girl died after her father ran over her with an earth-moving vehicle in an apparent accident, state police said.

Alyssa McDeavitt died Friday when she was struck by the Bobcat compact excavator that her father, Richard McDeavitt, 25, was backing off a trailer.

An initial investigation showed "it was just a very sad, very tragic accident," State Trooper David Bayer said.

The toddler had been playing with her 4-year-old brother and other children in the yard of their Jefferson home. She probably heard the machine start and wanted to go for a ride with her father, Bayer said.