A 15-year-old boy is dead after being struck by lightning while riding his bicycle.
Kevin Avelar was found lying unconscious in a parking lot with his bicycle next to him, Officer George Gordon said.
Avelar was a freshman at Roswell High School.
Source: wsbtv.com
Family mourns teen killed by lightning
By RALPH ELLIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/27/07
Kevin Alevar almost made it home.
On Sunday afternoon, the 15-year-old rode his bike to the BP station on Mansell Road in Alpharetta to pick up a few items, then headed back to Huntingon Farms Apartments off Old Roswell Road. As a thunderstorm intensified, Kevin apparently stopped on his bike near the covered mailbox kiosk close to the complex entrance to escape the rain.
Family photo
(ENLARGE)
Kevin Avelar, 15, left, with his uncle, Elpidio Leyva. Avelar was killed by lightning Sunday at Huntington Farms Apartments in Alpharetta.
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Lightning struck and killed the Roswell High freshman, who was pronounced dead at North Fulton Medical Center.
“Two hundred meters from his apartment he received the lightning,” said Deacon Julio Lema of St. David’s Episcopal Church, who is helping the family with funeral plans.
The lightning scared a lot of people in the complex. Alejandro Espinosa, 19, said he went outside to cover a washing machine in the back of a pickup truck. He jumped when he heard the noise.
“It was really, really bad. My family comes out like this,” Espinosa said, snapping his fingers, “checking on me.”
Kevin, his mother, older sister and younger brother moved to Georgia from the state of Morelos, just south of Mexico City, about a year and a half ago to be close to family in the Alpharetta area, said Kevin’s brother Alberto Alevar, 12.
Their father is dead. Their mother, Alba Zambrano, works at a car wash, Alberto said. Kevin liked math and playing soccer with friends.
Lema said he spent several hours consoling the family Sunday and conducted a mass in Kevin’s memory Monday morning at Saint David’s, which is not far from the apartment complex.
Funeral arrangements have not been finalized. Lema said the body will be shipped back to Mexico after a memorial service in Georgia.
The family is hoping to raise money to pay some of those expenses. To contribute, contact Saint David’s Episcopal Church at 770-993-6084.