’16 and Pregnant’ Star Dies in ATV Crash: Cause of Death Released for Sean Garinger

Update, July 27, 2024: TMZ reached out to officials in Raleigh, North Carolina, who confirmed 16 & Pregnant subject Sean Garinger’s cause of death. The outlet reports that “blunt force injury to the head” was the cause, meaning the ATV crash itself killed him, not any sort of medical episode beforehand. The medical examiner’s findings noted multiple skull fractures were found.

Original Story, March 4, 2024: In a tragic accident, 16 & Pregnant alum Sean Garinger has died. He was 20 years old. His mother, Mary Hobbs, confirmed the news to The U.S. Sun. The incident happened on Wednesday, just moments after he’d returned home from a local car dealership in North Carolina. 

“I was with him when it happened,” Hobbs told the outlet. “He was just moving [the ATV] from one parking spot to the next for me, so I could back into park. He pulled [in] front of me to park the ATV and the ground gave way from all the rain and mud.” She said the ATV “crushed” his skull. “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. I just laid next to him until the ambulance showed up.” 

Hobbs had just come back home with her son from the dealership. They’d plan to purchase Garinger a car so that he could drive to Colorado to visit his daughters. 

Hobbs is left devastated. “There was a huge part of my heart that died with my son on Wednesday,” the grieving mother said. He was my only son, my rock, my strength when I had none left. 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 continued.

“Sean brightened my world in a way no one else could ever come close to. He was my baby boy, my squishy, my heartbeat.”

MTV viewers first met Garinger in 2020 when he appeared on the sixth season of the reality series. The show, which debuted in 2009, chronicles teenage couples on their journey to parenthood. In the episode, Garinger was dating Selena, now 20. She welcomed a daughter Dareli in October 2020, and another daughter Esmi in June 2022. Garinger is the father of both children. The couple split due to alleged infidelity on Garinger’s part, and domestic violence issues. Despite such, they worked hard at raising their daughters together, though they lived in different states.

At the time of his death, Garinger was reportedly committed to turning his life around after some personal struggles. A source told the media outlet that he was back in school for welding.