Authorities: "No Negligence" Found in Case of Girl Kicked By Mule

A spokesperson with the Cherokee County Marshal's Office said there is "no negligence" in the case of two mules that escaped from a pen and one of which kicked a nine-year-old girl in the head.  

Alexa Huston with the marshal's office said there was "no negligence found after inspecting the enclosure where the mules were being kept." 

"This was an unfortunate accident," she said, adding the area backs up to the Etowah River and parts of the fence were washed away by recent flooding. 

Huston said two mules were wandering in the area of the home and the child was trying to help capture them when she was kicked in the head late Tuesday afternoon. 

Tim Cavender, spokesman with Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services, said the incident happened at a home located at 514 Green Drive just north of Canton. 

The girl is still hospitalized in critical condition at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Pediatric Hospital, he added. 

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an adult and the child, identified by a neighbor as Emma Johnson, were trying to lure the mules into an empty pasture until they could locate the animals' owner when the incident occurred. She was eventually airlifted to the hospital where she was reported in critical condition as of Tuesday evening.

The newspaper reported the animals' owner, Tim Byess, later retrieved the mules and did not know how they were able to get out.

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