HENDERSON, N.C. -- A Vance County family is trying to come to grips with the loss of a 5-year-old boy, killed while walking on a sidewalk in broad daylight by, who police are calling, a drunk driver.
The boy's father was taken to Duke Medical Center with serious injuries and the family is begging others to think twice before drinking and getting behind the wheel.
"I found out what happened and I just started screaming, and I couldn't stop screaming,” said Ellen Paynter, while standing at the site of the accident that took her great nephew's life.
Crime tape, skid marks and chips off a tree all stand as a reminder of a wreck that forever changed the lives of this heartbroken family.
"Because of this drunk driver, stole him from my family, I couldn't even kiss him goodbye," Paynter said, fighting back tears.
On Sunday afternoon, Richard Stokes, 22, who goes by Chad, and his 5-year-old son Jayden were walking down the sidewalk from a nearby park.
That's when police said Vincent Gregory, 47, crossed the road in his truck, smashing into a telephone poll before hitting the boy and his father.
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