CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The northwest Charlotte community came together Friday evening to remember former basketball player Mikey Maddox.
The 18-year-old died last weekend after a car hit him while he was riding his bike off Old Concord Road.
Mikey was known as rising star on the court, a rhyming rapper, and just a week from Monday, he was set to start his senior year of high school. Instead, his family will lay his body to rest Saturday.
“He really was a living angel," said Mikey's friend, Elijah.
Mikey’s mom, Natasha Larmond, is grieving the loss of her only son, but she believes it’s all part of a greater plan.
“God only takes the great ones," she said after the vigil. "I feel like he was like ‘Boy, I need you to come up here and be my point guard; your momma is going to be okay.”
The height of Mikey's happiness was on the hardwood. His coaches and teammates said he was a special basketball player with dreams of earning a scholarship.
Mikey’s legacy will also live on through his music. At the end of the vigil, his songs blasted out of the speakers with all of his friends rapping every word.
“I’m just going to miss him so much," Natasha said.
NBC Charlotte reached out to CMPD who told us the driver who hit Mikey stayed on the scene after the accident and has not been charged with any crime.
The funeral service is Saturday at Sugar Creek Church of Christ, 3932 Sofley Rd. in Charlotte, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.