'I'm barely holding up': Raleigh family mourns loss of teen, grandmother hit by cars

Jaylyn Kareem-Jerell Bryant, 15, was hit by a passing car on Rock Quarry Road on Tuesday morning while he waited for the school bus. The Sanderson High School student was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Days earlier, the teen's grandmother, Patricia Bryant, was also hit and killed by a car as she was leaving a store on Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard. In that case, family members say the driver did stop.

Family and friends believe the teenager laid there – alive for some time.

"He didn't die until he got to the hospital," said Maria Brown, Jaylyn's godmother. "If you would have stopped, if you would have stopped just to see if he's OK."

Family members said Jaylyn was a pallbearer at his grandmother's funeral just days before he was killed.

"We are devastated. We are very hurt," said Alicia Bryant, Jaylyn's mother.

In times like these, Alicia Bryant said she would lean on her mother for strength.

"I am barely holding up. I can't take anymore," she said. "I just need prayer. I need comfort. I have my family here, but I need everything possible."

John Edward Leach, 62, has been charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in death and obstructing justice, court records show.

Investigators said Leach tried to explain the damage to his car by claiming that he was the victim of a hit-and-run crash at another location, but also told authorities his vehicle had struck a pole in the roadway.

Leach is currently out of jail on bond.