Boy, 4, killed by a car while returning home from his father's funeral

Boy, 4, killed by a car while returning home from his father's funeral

A Pennsylvania family has faced more than its share of grief this week as a 4-year-old boy was killed after attending the funeral of his father, who was murdered last weekend.

Little Karder Hardy was hit by a car and killed on Saturday after returning from the funeral of his father, Derrick Brown, who was fatally shot in Chester, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Authorities say the boy had exited a Dodge Charger at 11th and Upland streets about 5 p.m. Saturday after returning from the funeral.

According to witnesses, the boy jumped out of the backseat to run to his mother, whom he'd seen standing across the street.


As the boy ran across the street, he was hit by a white van, according to witnesses.

'I seen him laying on the ground and I was holding him and telling him to hold on, hold on Karder,' DeniseBrown, his great aunt, told NBCPhiladelphia.com.

The boy was rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center with severe head trauma. His injuries, however, were fatal - he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

The van's 42-year-old driver stopped and remained at the scene of the accident. After the driver was questioned by police, it was determined that the tragedy was a terrible accident.

Brown - the boy's father - was fatally shot while in the city's West End. Investigators say he was likely an innocent bystander who was caught in the crossfire.

'It's too much for the family to deal with all in one day,' family friend Kathy Pappas told NBC.