BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) — The family of a Brandon High School student killed after being struck by a CSX train is remembering his life and working to honor his legacy.
Seventeen-year-old Jamar Bond was walking to school Thursday morning when he was hit by a train near Lakewood Drive in Brandon, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
“All I know is that he was my baby and he was my only son,” said Bond’s mother, Jewel McMillan. “I was really looking forward to his 18th birthday, him graduating and being successful in life.”
McMillan stood alongside relatives and Pastor Elvis Piggott of Triumph Church of Tampa as the family spoke publicly about Bond for the first time.
“No parent wants to have to ever encounter what could have imagined and so today we stand here with mom. We stand here with this family. We stand with uncles, cousins, grandparents. Just to simply, allow the community to know that we have here a phenomenal young man that anticipated with great joy and excitement to graduate high school,” Piggott said.
“I had a deputy come knock on my door and tell me that my son had an accident. I said ‘what type of accident did he have?’ He said he was hit by a train,” McMillan said.
Deputies were called to the railroad tracks around 8:23 a.m. on January 8. Bond was taken to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition. He died the following day.
Investigators say Bond was walking along the tracks toward Brandon High School when a train approached from behind. Deputies say fog was heavy in the area at the time and Bond tried to jump out of the way. A pair of headphones was found nearby.
“He was a protector. He liked to goof around, make you laugh,” McMillan said. “He loved his sister, he loved me, loved his grandmother, he loved everyone.
Family members say Bond had already endured loss at a young age losing his father when he was just eight years old.
Despite this, Bond’s great aunt, Conchita Canty-Jones, told 8 On Your Side he grew into a young man with goals and aspirations.
“A few weeks prior, my husband gave him a homework assignment that he had to come up with what he wanted to be when he grew up, “Canty-Jones said. “He listed of a slew of things that he wanted to do. I think an engineer, he wanted to work in the health field, and he even went a step further by doing [listing] what they do, salary and all those things,
As the family prepares to lay Bond to rest, they say they are also focused on how he will be remembered.
“I just want my baby laid to rest,” McMillan said.
Bond’s cousin, Conithia Jones-Jenkins, says the family is planning to create a foundation in his name to support young people in the community.
“The initiative that we would like to do to the foundation, it will be something that we will have more information on in the coming weeks,” Jones-Jenkins said. “It’s just going to be an initiative for the youth and just to remember him by his legacy.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says the incident remains under investigation.
The family says a website, jamarbond.org for the foundation is live and upcoming initiatives will be shared in the coming weeks.
Hillsborough County Public Schools has been contacted about counseling services for students and has not yet responded.
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