Raleigh family mourns 16-year-old boy killed in Apex crash: ‘It’s a great loss’

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A Raleigh family is mourning the loss of a teenager who died in a car crash on Sunday night.

His family, identifying him as 16-year-old Jhony Villatoro Ramos, said the teen had a big heart and a love for others.

“How am I supposed to be? It’s a great loss, and I don’t know how to overcome it, his grieving mother, Lilliana Ramos, told ABC11 on Tuesday night. “It’s my heart, it’s my soul, it’s very hard to explain how I feel.”

The crash happened on US 64 in Apex. Police said the 17-year-old driver was traveling about 100 mph when he lost control of the car, which hit a culvert and went airborne before rolling over several times.

The driver and a 16-year-old front-seat passenger were injured.

The family told ABC11 that the driver was Jhony’s first cousin.

“He left the house about 7:30, he said he was going to eat with his cousin. They went to eat. He said he’d be back about 10 p.m., but at 10:07, I sent him a message to see if he was coming back, and he didn’t respond,” Lilliana Ramos said. “His cousin didn’t respond either, and I felt an anxiety that something had happened.”

She said her brother called her around 10:30 and said that something had happened, that there had been an accident, and they were in the hospital.

“I got there about 10:45, and I was there until 3 a.m., and a police officer told me, ‘I’m so sorry, your son died.’ I couldn’t believe that my son was dead; he’d only gone out for a little while,” she recalled through tears.

Police said the driver did not have a valid driver’s license and was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

Liliana Ramos told ABC11 that nothing can prepare a parent for this.

“He was my son, my little boy, my baby. He was a good kid, he wasn’t into anything bad,” she said. “He went to school, he was a good student. But God took him, he took my little boy, my baby.”

Jhony was a student at Mary Phillips High School in Raleigh.

The school sent an email to families sharing its condolences and offering services to students in need.

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“It is with great sadness that I write this message … Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to … family and friends,” Principal Robert Gupton wrote, in part.

“We will continue to have staff available at the school to assist our students in coping with this loss,” he added. “Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have a need as we navigate this challenging time together.”

The deadly crash happened just as a statewide driving campaign for teenagers got underway.

The North Carolina Alliance for Safe Transportation is launching the second year of its Teen Safe Driving Ambassador Program, designed to enhance road safety for teens.

Lilliana Ramos has set up an online fundraiser to help pay for Jhony’s funeral.

“I just ask the community to help give my son the proper burial he deserves,” she said.

ABC11’s Sean Coffey contributed.