‘Why didn’t they stop?’ Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son

The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.

“I just want them to do the right thing and come forward and own up to their mistake and tell me why they didn’t stop? Why they didn’t at least call 911? Why somebody had to find a child lying like that?” Adam Edhi’s mom Jessica Lynch told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

She says Adam, who preferred to be called AJ, was on his way to visit his girlfriend before school when he was struck while riding his bicycle early Wednesday morning.

She said he had been upset they hadn’t gotten to see each other the night before and left without waking her.

An undated photo of Adam ‘AJ’ Edhi, 13, who died after he was struck by a driver while bicycling to his girlfriend’s house on May 29, 2024, in Edmonton. (Credit: Jessica Lynch)

He often visited her in the mornings, Lynch added, and although he normally took the bus, he likely didn’t that morning because buses weren’t running yet and he was excited for biking weather again.

“The little girl, she was on the phone with him on his way over and she heard everything,” Lynch said.

Concerned, his girlfriend called Lynch.

“I have his location on my phone… so I got in the car and went to go see and figured that maybe he had just fallen. And by the time I got there, the police were already there. Somebody had already found him.”

Police are looking for a blue 2014-18 Mazda 3 sedan or hatchback, which they believe will have sustained damage to its front end and driver side.

Lynch described AJ as a loving brother to three siblings and a teenager who hadn’t yet outgrown hanging out with his mom.

“His little sister just absolutely loved him. And his little brother is still looking for him around the house. He has an older brother who is just completely beside himself and misses him.”

An undated photo of Adam ‘AJ’ Edhi, 13, who died after he was struck by a driver while bicycling to his girlfriend’s house on May 29, 2024, in Edmonton. (Credit: Jessica Lynch)

She continued, “I just want everyone to know he was a good kid, he had a loving home, he was just a teenager in love and he wasn’t doing anything that he shouldn’t be.”

Mylie, AJ’s girlfriend, is heartbroken, Lynch said.

“A little girl just lost her first love.”

Loved ones are fundraising to support the family.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny