Sean Garinger, who appeared in MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, died on Feb. 28 in a freak ATV accident.
Garinger’s mother Mary Hobbs told the US Sun that the 20-year-old was moving the ATV so that she could park her car at his home in Boone, North Carolina when “the ground gave way from all the rain and mud,” she said. The ATV flipped over and “crushed” her son’s head.
“I ran to neighbors trying to get someone to help me get the ATV off of him. No one answered. I ran back to him,” she continued. “By that time, I realized he wasn’t alive anymore. I just laid next to him until the ambulance showed up.”
Hobbs said that her son “brightened my world in a way no one else could ever come close to,” describing him as her “baby boy” and “heartbeat.”
The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to her call, shared their remorse over the incident: “Our hearts are heavy with sorrow for the loss experienced by the family and loved ones of the victim.”
Garinger starred in the MTV reality show in 2021 with then-girlfriend, Selena Gutierrez. Though her family disapproved of their relationship, the pair welcomed two daughters together, Dareli in 2020 and Esmi in 2022.
Garinger and Gutierrez weren’t together at the time of his death and were dating other people. She has yet to publicly responded to the tragic incident. The 20-year-old now lives in Colorado with their children.
Garinger is survived by his mother, two children, and six sisters, Shania, Lydia, Isabella, Ember, Kayden, and Casslyn.