Hundreds of friends and family members attended a wake for the 13-year-old boy killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Brooklyn over the weekend.
Henry Garcia was running an errand for his mother when he fell off his bike and was hit by a green SUV that did not stop.
Classmates attending his wake Wednesday evening openly cried outside the Las Rosas Funeral Home on Fourth Avenue.
"He was basically the class clown," said friend Taylor Gydetti. "Now the class is very quiet. It's not the same."
Police have not caught the driver who killed Garcia and then sped away.
Garcia's religious instructor, Roseanne Bourke, said she saw the victim's father back at the scene of the accident Wednesday afternoon.
"The man is heartbroken," said Bourke. "I stayed there a while with him, but there's nothing you can say or do."
Garcia has been described as a model student and good friend. He was a few weeks shy of receiving his first communion when he died.
"He was a wonderful boy," said Bourke. "He went to Mass every Sunday, he went to religious instruction every Sunday. He never missed a day."
The bicycle Garcia was riding when he was killed was a gift he received a few weeks ago for doing so well in school.
"He was a lively, bubbly fellow," said family friend Robert Kassai, whose children often played with the Garcias.
"He had a very mature streak to him," added Kassai. "He was very nice, very appreciative of everything, a very thankful, very responsible child."
Garcia's funeral takes place Thursday morning at St. Finbar Church in Brooklyn.
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