By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

Investigations Editor

Stephanie Cabral, of West Haven, walks her dogs, Morgan and Misha, past a fallen tree with a hanging branch at Sleeping Giant State Park Friday. Melanie Stengel — Register

A Colchester woman went with her family to the Salmon River State Forest in May to have a picnic while enjoying the natural beauty there, with picturesque views of the river and fragrant flowers.

Instead, a large oak tree fell, killing Barbara Young, 45, who died at the scene, and seriously injuring her daughter, Jessica Surratt, 18. Young’s son, Kevin Surratt, 22, escaped unharmed.

The tree had been alive, but it was infested with carpenter ants and was rotting on one side, according to a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection environmental conservation police report on the accident.

Read more here.