Stepfather says mother of child hit by car watched him take his last breath

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Andante Brown, 11-year-old Terry Bryant’s stepfather, was on the way to the scene with his wife before he knew Terry had been hit.

They were going to pick up Terry from his bus stop.

“We just thought it was traffic, like it normally is in the afternoon right around that area,” said Brown. “And we saw him laying in the street.”

Terry was hit by a Kia on North University Blvd. and Windemere Drive on Wednesday at 4:27 PM.

It happened minutes after he got off his school bus.

The boy was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told Action News Jax on Wednesday that Terry ran into traffic and was struck by a car headed northbound.

Brown told Action News Jax that Terry’s mother was by his side when he took his last breath. “She was able to say goodbye to him and let him know she was there, and he was safe and loved,” he said. “He didn’t go by himself and wasn’t scared. And I thank God for that moment.”

JSO said it was too early to know how fast the driver was going or if they tried to stop.

Brown said he wants answers for the boy whom he considered his own. “Not trying to take nothing from his father, that's his father, but that was my son,” he said. “I've been with that boy every day of his life since he was 6. That’s my son.”

He described Terry as selfless, said he enjoyed reading and told us the 11-year-old had plans to join the football team at his school this year.

“If anything you can take from this, remember Terry by smiling every day,” he said.  “…and enjoy the moment no matter what. Enjoy your life, have fun with it, because he surely did.”

JSO said the investigation continues.

Cox Media Group