The 5-year-old daughter of multiple Dove Award-winner Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed yesterday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her teenage brother, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway on the family's rural home in Nashville and died later in a hospital, said Laura McPherson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. No charges were expected, the AP reported.

“It looks like a tragic accident,” said McPherson, who noted that several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident in which the brother apparently did not see the little girl. She did not have the name or exact age of the brother.

The tragedy was announced during last night's service at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, which the family attends. Maria had just graduated from the church preschool, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported.

Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, have long been supporters of international adoption, having brought three girls from China into their family, with Maria the youngest. The couple formed an organization, Shaohannah's Hope, to aid families wanting to adopt.

“I don't know of anybody who loves his children more than he does and is so committed to the adoption concept, and to lose one, no matter what the circumstances, is heartbreaking beyond all comprehension,” Gospel Music Association President John Styll told The Tennessean. “He talks about his kids all the time. That's his life. His kids are more important to him than music, that's for sure.”

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