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The Mount Olive boy was killed after a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox struck a Honda HRV and fled the scene near milepost 28.5 in Roxbury around 7:45 p.m. Thursday, DailyVoice.com reported.
The victim, identified as Lorenzo Van Dine, is the grandson of a Budd Lake firefighter, the department said in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
“We ask that you hold your family members a little tighter this holiday season, tell them you love them and cherish every moment,” reads the post.
Meanwhile, nearly $74,000 had been raised on GoFundMe for Lorenzo’s funeral expenses, more than doubling the campaign’s initial goal of $30,000 in just three days.
“My son and his uncle were in a horrible crash and unfortunately we had lost my son in a tragic very horrible way,” reads the fundraiser, launched by Ashley Vandine-Palmer.
“I’m a single mom with not much money to make something beautiful for him to celebrate his loving life.”
Lorenzo was remembered as a kind-hearted boy who loved sports and had dreams of becoming a cop when he grew up, the fundraiser says.
“He was loved by many,” Vandine-Palmer writes.
“He was my family’s love. And he knew how to make everyone’s day brighter.”
Click here to view/donate to ‘Lorenzo’s Funeral Cost’ on GoFundMe.
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