Authorities: Drunk driver killed 14-year-old in Scotland Neck crash

The crash occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday on N.C. Highway 903 outside Scotland Neck.

The car Syhem Purvis was riding in was rear-ended and ran off the highway, hitting a tree, authorities said. Syhem and the driver, whose name hasn't been released, were both thrown from the car.

Both were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The driver survived, but Syhem didn't.

"My son isn’t going to experience life at all. He’s never coming back. He’s never coming back," Keith Purvis said Monday.

Purvis said he was in Miami when he got the call that his son had been killed in the crash.

"Drunk driver, that’s all I heard," he said. "I wanted to hurt somebody. I want my baby back."

Edward Lee Moody, 51, of Scotland Neck, was charged with felony death by vehicle and driving while impaired.

Syhem was a normal 14-year-old who loved his family, playing basketball and helping people in the neighborhood, his father said.

"I’m just sad my son didn’t get a chance to live life," Purvis said, choking back tears as he noted that Syhem's birthday would have been this week.

"He didn’t even get to see his 15th birthday," he said.

"I love hard," he said. "[Syhem] being here or not being here, I’m still going to remember [him], still going to cherish everything, our memories. But getting over it, I don’t know."