STEPHENSON, Wis. — One child has been pronounced dead following a two-vehicle crash in Marinette County on Thursday. This is the second traffic fatality in Marinette County, Wisconsin, in 2023.

At 4:03 p.m. Thursday, Marinette County sheriff’s deputies responded to a two-vehicle crash on County Highway X near Newton Lake Road in Stephenson. One party was partially ejected from one of the vehicles.

According to the office of Marinette County Sheriff, a vehicle operated by 48-year-old Kurtis Roskom of Crivitz, Wisconsin, was traveling north on Newton Lake Road and had stopped for the stop sign at County Highway X. Roskom proceeded into the intersection and collided with a vehicle traveling east driven by 29-year-old Dylan Klempke of Crivitz.

The collision caused Klempke’s vehicle to overturn onto its side and partially eject a rear-seat passenger who was not restrained. The passenger was 5-year-old Stella Klempke, who was ejected during the crash and later pronounced dead.

Failure to yield from a stop sign and lack of use of restraint appear to have been factors in the crash that remains under investigation by the Marinette County Sheriff’s Office and the Marinette County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Assisting Marinette County deputies at the scene were members of the Town of Stephenson Fire Department, Crivitz Police Department, Twin Bridge Rescue and Crivitz Rescue.