[bloodrayne]

Driver Swerves To Miss Cat, Fatally Strikes Teenager

Jacksonville, Florida -- A driver who swerved to avoid a cat in the road instead struck a skateboarding teenager, killing him.

Kevin Rivers, 17, of Jacksonville, was standing by the side of the road with his skateboard just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday when he was hit, police said. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The driver, whose name was not released, told police he swerved the car to avoid a cat. Investigators said the driver would not be charged because Rivers had been standing partially in the road.

"I'm devastated. He was too young," Rivers' mother, Naomi Falson, told WJXT-TV in Jacksonville. "He was a good boy. He wanted something in life."

"I've never seen nothing like that in my life," said Ryan Spurlock, 14 -- one of three friends to witness the accident.

"The car was doing, like, 45, 50," Spurlock said. "That's when he hit Kevin and Kevin flew through the air."

A bystander who gave Kevin CPR until Jacksonville Fire-Rescue personnel arrived. But Kevin died later at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center.

Friends and neighbors created a makeshift memorial at the spot where Kevin was hit that included signs urging drivers to slow down.