Austin Stiles, a 16-year-old Diamondville boy, died in a firearm-related hunting accident in the Elk Mountain area on Thursday, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said in a Friday statement.
His mother, Ashley Stiles, told Cowboy State Daily that he had a silly sense of humor and big plans for his life.
“He loved wrestling and had a passion for it,” Stiles said. “He always wanted to be either an MMA fighter or a WWE superstar.”
As the oldest of four children, she said he took his role as a big brother to heart.
“He was amazing,” Stiles said. “A great big brother.”
‘It’s My Dad and then it’s My Kid’
For Stiles, her son’s sudden death marks the second family tragedy in less than a week. On Sept. 30, the day before the hunting accident, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at an Opal residence.
Stiles confirmed that the victim in that incident was her father.
“I'm heartbroken,”Stiles said, fighting tears. “It's my dad, and then it's my kid.”
Her father survived, and Stiles said that he’s being treated in Utah, facing a “long road ahead of him and many surgeries.” She declined to provide more details about the hunting accident that took her son’s life, but emphasized that the tragedies are unrelated.
“My father tried to commit suicide, and my son was in a hunting accident,” Stiles said. “Different situations.”
‘He Was Probably The Sweetest Kid’
Kemmerer resident and family friend Dani Whittaker told Cowboy State Daily that Stiles and her children are like family.
“Ashley calls me mom,” Whittaker said. “All the kids have called me Memaw forever.”
Whittaker’s daughter has been friends with Austin since childhood, and today Ashley Stiles' daughter and Whittaker’s granddaughter are best friends.
The loss of Stiles' son, Whittaker said, hit like it was one of her own.
“He was probably the sweetest kid,” Whittaker said. “He was a giver, not a taker. He worked really hard at anything he did.”
After getting word of the accident, Whittaker said her husband went to the scene as a search and rescue volunteer while she went to the hospital to support Stiles and her other children.
“I didn't know what to say to her,” Whittaker said. “How do you tell a mom how to bury her child? Something's wrong in the universe when you have to do that.”
Community Steps Up
To help with the burial, Whittaker launched a Facebook group to organize a fundraising auction. Within an hour, nearly 200 people joined and were donating goods and services. As of 9 p.m. on Friday, the group has over 400 members.
For Whittaker, it speaks to the strength of the tight-knit community.
“Kemmerer always steps up and takes care of their own,” Whittaker said.
Though the fundraising is going well, Whittaker said her heart breaks for the woman she considers a daughter, who now must carry the weight of back-to-back tragedies.
“They’ve been through a lot in the last few days,” Whittaker said. "Tragedy has hit the family pretty hard.”
‘Trauma Most People Never Experience’
Rosie’s Pizzeria and Sports Bar, a Kemmerer restaurant where the boy worked, posted on Facebook that it will be closed Friday after learning of his death late Thursday night.
“Today we are all trying to make sense of it and dealing with it in our own way,” the post says. “The crew has decided to stay home tonight as many are still in tears.”
Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen told Cowboy State Daily on Friday afternoon he didn't know more than what has been publicly released, but said the loss will be felt throughout the small southwest Wyoming community.
“It’ll hit hard,” Bowen said. “When we lose one of our youth it always does. Our children are our greatest investment.”
“Losing a child is trauma that most people may never experience,” Bowen said. “For those that do, our sincerest sympathies and condolences go out to them. As a small community we’re here to help each other in every way we can.”
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.
“The accident investigation is ongoing and there will be no further information released at this time,” the office said in a statement Friday afternoon.
Funeral services for Stiles, who was born March 22, 2010, to Thomas Croft and Ashley Stiles, are pending at the South Lincoln Training and Event Center in Kemmerer, according to a death notice posted Friday by Ball Family Chapel.
Contact Emma Jane Jackson at emma@cowboystatedaily.com
Emma Jane Jackson can be reached at emma@cowboystatedaily.com.
