Mikey Malanda’s friends and family say the 12-year-old left home last weekend the way he had every Sunday for years – riding to a nearby gas station to fuel up his dirt bike before cruising through the city on his pedal bike with friends.
He had navigated the narrow streets of his northwest Charlotte neighborhood hundreds of times, always taking extra care at the intersection of Oakdale and Auten roads like his aunt had taught him. That’s where, just after 1 p.m. on Sunday, police say Mikey’s bike collided with a pickup truck. He died at the scene.
“He just went out to get a little bit of gas so he could be able to go do something that he loved,” said his aunt, Laure Makiona. “Never did we think we wouldn’t get to see him anymore.”…