Colorado father warns community, other parents on use of minibikes following fatal hit-and-run crash in Thornton

An unexpected tragedy over the weekend has left one Colorado father filled with heartache and regret.

"Out of anyone, I didn't think anything would happen to him. He was just always a good kid and had so much love from everybody," said Jarrod Marrujo. "I wish I could've told my son I love him and I wish I could've had just one more conversation with him."

Jarrod Marrujo's son, 14-year-old Jayden, a popular kid and rising football player, was struck and killed on Saturday night in Thornton by a hit-and-run driver.

Jayden was riding his minibike on the shoulder of the road near the intersection of Thornton Parkway and Huron Street when the driver allegedly sped through the area and struck him.

Marrujo found out about his son's death nearly 24 hours after he died in the hospital.

"It felt like a movie, it felt unreal," he said. "Your first ... feeling is just to feel kind of rageful, I guess, upset, just disappointed that somebody could do that to a human and a child and just flee like nothing happened."

Later in the weekend, 23-year-old Jeremy Nobles was arrested and charged with careless driving causing serious bodily injury or death and failure to remain at the scene of a crash involving death. Police say they used a Flock camera license plate reader to identify the suspect's car and were eventually able to contact the suspect by phone, who led them to the car.

"I know that there's potential that accidents can happen with minors on minibikes on the road, but if something like that was to happen, you should pull over and help the best you can," said Marrujo.

Marrujo is now choosing to honor his son by educating parents of the risks with children riding motorized bikes.

"I just feel like the more youth that are on the road right now riding these minibikes, we just need to spread more awareness to the parents and the risk that come with it, and teaching our kids to just be a little more safer and alert when they are riding them," he said.

While he and his son shared a passion for riding motorized bikes, he knows there needs to be more regulation in who can use them.

"Age restrictions and everything (and) maybe some type of class, how you would for like a motorcycle license," he said. "They're electric or gas powered, and my son had a gas-powered one. They are fast, they are under 28 miles an hour, but still could be dangerous because they still have the same fundamentals of a full-sized motorcycle."

As they wait for the suspect to be brought to justice, both of Jayden's parents have posted separate crowd sharing fundraisers to help them as they navigate through the loss.

"In a blink of an eye, your life can change," said Marrujo.