SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A 14-year-old Mira Mesa High School freshman is being remembered as a kind, loving teenager with an entrepreneurial spirit, five days after he was struck and killed while walking on a foggy evening.
Jay Jay Stewart was walking home with three friends Saturday night, around 8:30 p.m., along Camino Ruiz near Hydra Lane when tragedy struck. According to his mother, Dianna Pringle, “one car was passing when another vehicle came in the blind spot … Jay ran out.”
It's unclear why Jay Jay darted across the street. Police say an SUV struck him, and he was rushed to a hospital where he died. The driver of the SUV stopped at the scene, and police say alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash.
Pringle described the devastating loss of her son.
"Like in a nightmare, can't wake up from,” a tearful Pringle said. "My body is crushed. I feel like I'm dying, only way I can describe it."
The inconsolable mother says her outgoing son loved gaming and his family. When asked how Jay Jay should be remembered, Pringle had a clear answer.
"As a kind, loving warm, always a bright electric smile on his face," she said.
Pringle says her son was also an aspiring businessman. For several years, he would buy and resell candy bars in front of grocery stores and restaurants.
"He was a hustler. He hustled. He was a mini-entrepreneur,” Pringle said.
Now, the Buddha necklace Jay Jay loved to wear rests close to his mother's broken heart. Near the crash scene, a gathering of candles and stuffed animals honors the teen who was walking with friends and never made it back home.
Pringle has a message for other parents following the loss of her bright young son.
"Love on your kids. Love on your kids. You never know when God is going to call them home," she said.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Jay Jay's family with funeral expenses.
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