NEED TO KNOW

• Abel Aquino-Torres was fatally struck outside of his home in Lawrenceville, Ga.

• The kindergarten student was crossing the street around 9:20 p.m. local time on Saturday, Nov. 15

• “He was my partner. He was my mini me,” the boy’s father, Juan Torres, said of his son

Abel Aquino-Torres, 6, died after a car hit him on the family’s neighborhood street in Lawrenceville, Ga., on Saturday, Nov. 15.

The Torres family had returned home from a birthday party and Abel decided to go for a bike ride around 9:20 p.m., his father, Juan Torres, told WSB-TV. Although Juan says that he told Abel that it was too late, he eventually agreed that the boy could take a lap around the neighborhood.

But before Abel could cross the street, a car struck the kindergartner. “The car was going very fast, and it was dark,” his mother, Karina Aquino, said, according to the outlet.

He died shortly after being hit. He was the youngest of five siblings, and leaves behind his four sisters: Ariana, Briana, Gracie and Sarahi.

“My world stopped,” Juan said. “I feel the emptiness because my child is no more here.”

He remembered his only son as “my partner. He was my mini me,” he told 11 Alive.

The grieving parents want to warn others of the dangers of driving. “Tell everybody to be more careful. A car is also a weapon,” Karina told WSB-TV.

“God gives, and he takes,” Karina said. “There is a purpose for everything he does, and we don’t question.”

“The spiritual side of us is at peace because we know he’s in a good place, we know he’s in the presence of our creator, but the human, the flesh in us, misses him deeply,” Karina said, according to 11 Alive.

The parents said they forgive the driver. “We believe in forgiveness and in mercy, which is what Jesus would have done,” Karina told WSB-TV. They also thanked the community for their ongoing support, saying that the family is “very, very grateful.”

Abel’s uncle created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the unexpected funeral expenses. “Abel was a bright, joyful child who brought light everywhere he went,” the GoFundMe page description page read.

“He was a firm believer in Christ, a little boy with the purest heart, and someone who made friends effortlessly. His smile, kindness, and loving spirit touched everyone who knew him.”

His parents and sisters have had their world “shattered,” per the page. “No family is ever prepared for a loss like this,” it continues.

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An investigation into the accident is ongoing; no one has been charged, the Gwinnett County Police Department said, according to 11 Alive.

PEOPLE reached out to the Gwinnett County Police Department for additional information.

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