KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Funeral services will be Saturday for the 10-year-old boy struck and killed Christmas Eve night as he left church services in the Carter community.
Sawyer R. Black was crossing Strawberry Plains Pike when a vehicle struck him about 5:45 p.m. in the 9200 block, according to Knox County authorities. He'd just left a Christmas Eve service at nearby Lyons Creek Baptist Church with his family.
Witnesses moved quickly to help the boy, performing CPR until an ambulance arrived. He died at University of Tennessee Medical Center that night.
He was a fifth-grader at Carter Elementary School and "a delightful, intelligent and talented little boy," according to his obituary.
"He was an accomplished piano student for his age, and also enjoyed playing the guitar and drums while “jamming” with his brothers and father," his obituary states.
Sawyer's family will receive friends noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Bridges Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements. The service will follow with the Rev. Brett Williams of Lyons Creek Baptist Church officiating.
Interment will be at Trentville Cemetery, according to Sawyer's death notice.
Survivors include his parents, Michael Todd Black and Jill Pittman Black; brothers, Dalton Michael (Victoria) Black, Juddsen Harper Black, and Jaxon Walker Black; grandparents, Mike and Tammy Black, Earl and Betty Pittman; great grandmother, Betty Walker; aunts and uncles, Kim (Lance) Nizinski, Jeff Black, Suzannah (Brad) Cannon, Mark Cline, Kelly (Angie) Pittman; great aunt, Susan Goforth Dawson; several special cousins who Sawyer enjoyed being with; and best friend, Greyson Watson.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office's Reconstruction Unit is investigating. No one has been charged.