A five-year-old boy was fatally struck by a car over the weekend as its 20-year-old driver fled from police, according to authorities.
A five-year-old boy was fatally struck by an SUV over the weekend as the 20-year-old driver fled from police, according to authorities.
Jayden Carlos Readon, known as "JC" to his family, was on the sidewalk in Boynton Beach, Florida with his great-grandparents and two-year-old brother on Saturday when he was hit by the out-of-control SUV, authorities said.
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Jayden, who lived just yards from where he was struck, was walking to the park at the time.
"He was holding his great grandmother's hand," Jayden's father, Corye Henry Readon Sr., told INSIDE EDITION. "The next thing she knew, they weren't holding hands anymore,"
Readon was leaving work when he got a call that his son had been hurt and was heading to hospital. Medical staff spent an hour and a half trying to revive his son, he said.
"All I could do was scream his name, 'Wake up little JC!'" Readon recalled. "But they said he didn't make it. I went to his room and gave him a kiss, told him I loved him."
Before the crash, police had tried to pull over the driver, Lex Eugene, for reckless driving but he would not stop, according to CBS affiliate WPEC. Authorities said they were not chasing Eugene at the time, which Readon disputes.
Eugene tried to turn onto a street when he lost control of the 2008 Buick and knocked the little boy down, according to authorities. He allegedly tried to run but police caught up with him and he was arrested.
Eugene has been charged with vehicular homicide, as well as possession of heroin, driving without a license and trying to leave the scene of the crash, according to WPEC.
On Monday, Jayden's relatives headed to court for Eugene's first appearance on Monday. He was denied bail.
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The 20-year-old was released from prison in December after serving five months on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a controlled substance, prison records show. He was on probation at the time of Saturday's crash.
Jayden's father said he has no words for the man who allegedly killed his son.
"We need to make sure he never gets out," he said. "But I know the court system will take care of him. I know God will take care of him. My main focus is on my son who's not here."
Readon says his wife is not doing well after the incident, and he fears the boy's great-grandparents will never leave their homes again.
One of Readon's other sons was with his great-grandparents at the time of the crash, although Readon is not sure what he saw. His oldest son, who is 10, is at a loss without his brother.
"He's not doing good," Readon said. "He doesn't want to go back in the area. He doesn't have his little brother to play with anymore. Their baby sister won't have anyone coming home to give her a kiss in the afternoons anymore."
Readon remembers his son as a "master builder" with an incredible imagination who could craft anything from clay, paper or sand.
"He was most definitely one of a kind," he said.
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