It was a moment that changed her family's life and now a Palm Beach County mother is asking for more people to take responsibility for the death of her 5-year-old son.
If you ask Marisella Readon about her son Jayden it's difficult for her not to smile.
"That was my thing. I loved his storytelling," she said.
She can tell a lot of stories about him.
"He was our glue, our butter. He was just... he was able to play with everybody," Readon recalled.
Now, she likes to talk about Jayden because it's one of the ways she keeps his memory alive.
"There's a big chunk that's missing," she said.
In 2016, Jayden was on a walk with his grandparents and brother in their Boynton Beach community when a car drove onto the sidewalk hitting the 5-year-old.
"They had literally just started to walk and then as I found out as soon as they crossed they heard sirens, before they turned around the incident occurred," Readon said.
The man behind the wheel was 23-year-old Lex Eugene. Boynton Beach police say Eugene was trying to get away from officers when he drove onto the curb and hit Jayden.
In January, jurors convicted Eugene on several charges including vehicular homicide. Last week, he was sentenced to thirty years in prison, but Readon says that's not enough.
"This officer still has his job and Lex is still breathing and alive," she said. "He may not be where he wants to be but you still have the gift of life."
She says she now wants the police officer who was following Eugene to be held accountable for her son's death.
"You're supposed to be there to protect and serve the community and you don't do that," she said.
WPTV reached out to the Boynton Beach Police Department for comment, but a spokesperson said they can't comment on pending litigation.
