Teen’s death not first at local Boy Scout campground

Cobb County father, 7-year-old son died during weekend campout in 1999

Elijah Knight, 14, from Cypress, Texas, died when a tree fell on his tent during severe weather.

The Newton County campground where a 14-year-old died during Boy Scout camp is the same place where a father and son perished several years ago.

On Monday, a Texas teenager was killed when a powerful storm toppled a tree onto his tent at Bert Adams Scout Camp, near Covington, according to investigators. Elijah Knight’s death was ruled accidental.

In March 1999, a Cobb County father and his 7-year-old son died during a Cub Scout camping weekend held at the same campground, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Kenneth L. Lang Sr., 34, and Kenneth “K-2” L. Lang Jr. died in their sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning after bringing a grill into their tent for warmth.

This campsite at the Bert Adams Scout Reservation near Covington is where a father and son died in March 1999 of carbon monoxide poisioning after bringing their charcoal grill into the tent for warmth. The pair were part of an Atlanta area Cub Scout pack who were having a family camping weekend. 

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"People said K-2 had a cold, so he went to bed early," the boy’s mother told The AJC after his death. "Kenny stayed up talking to the guys and when he went to bed later, K-2 was still complaining about being cold. He took the grill in to keep him warm, I guess."

K-2 was an athletic, energetic first-year Cub Scout who didn’t let a severe asthma problem slow him down, his mother said.

"He loved baseball, he played first base mostly. He used to say, 'Mama, I'm going to be a big baseball player and take care of you someday.' "

Bert Adams Scout Camp, which opened in 1960, was originally founded in 1928 in Vinings, according to the camp’s website. This week is the last of four sessions held at the campground, and camp continued after the teenager’s death, according to a spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts’ Atlanta council.

In May 2017, a Cobb County teenager was killed when a tree fell on her while on a camping trip in Bartow County. Joelle Dalgleish, 16, was a student at Harrison High School.