For Glenn Alvarez, words are not enough to describe the scene Wednesday night.
“It was just heartbreaking when I saw the mother screaming at the top of her lungs.”
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Alvarez says he saw little Jeremiah Desronvil, who friends and family called "LeAndre," playing ball with a group of children at the apartment complex.
Before long, he says the kids made their way to Lantana Road.
“They were playing chicken out here, he was the first kid, he stepped out, got hit instantly by the pick up truck,” Alvarez says.
The 8-year-old died at the scene.
Jeremiah was a third grader at Palm Beach Maritime Academy
“Yesterday he saw me in the hallway,” his principal Marie Turchiaro. “'Ms. T!' And I got the big hug that he would always give.”
Guidance and grief counselors were on hand Thursday after investigators released his name.
“Sort of simultaneously, a lot of the kids found out,” Turchiaro says. “So we knew today was going to be a tough day, tomorrow’s going to be a tough day.”
Students and teachers alike were unable to grasp the death of a boy they say never stopped smiling.
“Whether he knew you or not, he was just chatting you up and just wanted to know you, wanted to talk to you,” his P.E. teacher Laura Castello says. “Just to get to know everyone better.”
The Department of Children and families says it has opened up a child death investigation, and says it will continue to support the family moving forward.
