Boy on bicycle struck, killed in hit-and-run

FHP looking for vehicle with damage around headlight

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 13-year-old boy was killed while riding his bicycle Saturday night after a driver hit him and then took off, Florida Highway Patrol said.

At around 9:40 p.m., Brian Alvezios was riding his bike along Branan Field Road, south of Trail Ridge Road in Orange Park, about a mile from his home. He was on his way home when troopers said the driver of a car hit him, sending him 100 yards into a ditch.

The driver of the car did not stop and Brian was pronounced dead on the scene, according to officers.

Now, a heartbroken family is looking for answers.

"Why would they hit him and just leave the scene?" Jack Alvezios, Brian's father said.

His mother, Jenny, was visibly distraught Sunday, and can't imagine celebrating any of the upcoming holidays without her son.

"I tore my tree down; I don't want a tree up. I tore it down, I can't have Christmas," Brian's mother, Jenny Alvezios, said through tears.

Brian's sister, Katie, is also begging for the driver of the car to turn him or herself in. She was one of the first people in the Alvezios family to find out about her little brother.

"I went up to the cops and I asked them if there was a boy on a bike involved and they said that was the incident down there," she said.

FHP does not know the make or model of the car, but said it should have right front or side damage, especially in the headlight area.

Anyone with information about the vehicle or identity of the driver is asked to call the FHP at 904-695-4115.