14-year-old Texas boy killed by car, vehicle's passenger charged with murder

A 14-year-old boy from Texas was hit and killed on his way to school – now the passenger of the car that hit him is charged with murder.

On Friday, Sept. 6, Jonathan Ayala was on his way to school in the East Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas just before 8 a.m. when a car veered off the road and hit him, Dallas police said in a statement.

Jonathan was walking in the grass near the intersection of Marsalis Avenue and Ledbetter Drive when he was hit, police said.

Upon further investigation, police learned that 47-year-old passenger James Grant allegedly got into an argument with the driver as they headed south on Marsalis Avenue.

“Grant began to fight with the driver and attacked her,” the statement said.

As the car headed east on Ledbetter Street, “Grant reached over the driver, causing the car to veer off the road and strike the teenager running in the grass,” police alleged in their statement.

Grant allegedly stole property from the driver and fled the scene of the accident, the statement said.

The driver called 911, stopped the vehicle, and remained at the scene. Jonathan was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Later that day, officers found Grant, who had been arrested for murder, “in the act of committing a crime that caused the teenager's death,” police said in their statement.

According to online jail records, he was also arrested for allegedly violating his probation.

The investigation is ongoing.

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According to online jail records, Grant remains held in Dallas County's North Tower Jail on $750,000 bail.

It is unclear whether he has hired a lawyer who can comment on his behalf.

As Grant awaits his next court date, Jonathan's family is mourning the loss of the boy, who was described as a “bright, kind-hearted soul,” according to Elias Ayala, who started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his younger brother's funeral.

Jonathan's “infectious laughter and boundless enthusiasm brought joy to everyone he met,” Elias wrote. “His absence has left an irreplaceable void in our lives and we are grappling with the immense sadness of losing such a precious part of our family.”

As CBS News reported, Jonathan was a student at Boude Storey Middle School, the Dallas Independent School District confirmed.

The school is several blocks from where Jonathan was hit.