16 and Pregnant alum Sean Garinger has died at age 20 following an ATV accident.
Garinger was the father of Selena Gutierrez’s two children, Dareli, 3, and Esmi, 12 months. His mom, Mary Hobbs, confirmed his death to The Sun, revealing that he had passed away on Wednesday, February 28, in Boone, North Carolina.
Hobbs told the publication that she “was with him” when the ATV accident occurred, “crushing” his skull and causing his death.
“He was just moving [the ATV] from one parking spot to the next for me, so I could back into park,” she told The Sun. “He pulled [in] front of me to park the ATV and the ground gave way from all the rain and mud.”
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Hobbs said that the ATV flipped and fell on top of her son.
“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 added. “By that time, I realized he wasn’t alive anymore.”
She “laid next to him” while waiting for an ambulance.
Garinger appeared alongside Gutierrez, 20, during season 6B of 16 and Pregnant, which aired in March 2021. The on-and-off couple had a long-distance relationship, with Gutierrez living in Colorado.
Hobbs told The Sun that she and Garinger were at the car dealership prior to his death. She explained that he wanted to buy a vehicle to drive to Colorado in order to see his daughters. They “never made it back to the dealership,” Hobbs said.
A local news outlet received confirmation of Garinger’s death from the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, March 1.
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“Our hearts are heavy with sorrow for the loss experienced by the family and loved ones of the victim,” a statement from the Sheriff’s Office read, confirming that Garinger had attempted to move an ATV when it went off “a steep embankment” throwing him from the vehicle.
“There was a huge part of my heart that died with my son on Wednesday. He was my only son, my rock, my strength when I had none left,” Hobbs told The Sun of her late son. “We loved spontaneously jumping in the car for a road trip or a beach sesh. We bonded over music, fast cars and shooting guns and taking new adventures.”
She concluded: “Sean brightened my world in a way no one else could ever come close to. He was my baby boy, my squishy, my heartbeat.”
According to his obituary, Garinger is survived by sisters Shania, Lydia, Isabella, Ember, Kayden and Casslyn, along with his mother and daughters.
