The driver of a tractor trailer is facing criminal charges after a deadly crash in Shelby on Tuesday night.

SHELBY, N.C. -- A 10-year-old boy was killed after a tractor-trailer slammed into the back of his mother’s car on Tuesday night.

The collision happened in Shelby at the intersection of East Dixon and Earl Boulevard.

Investigators say driver inattention caused the Western Star 18-wheeler to slam into the back of the Toyota Camry.

NewsChannel 36 learned that investigators believe speed and brake problems did not play a role.

Witnesses say the mother screamed for her son after the accident.

“She kept hollering about her other kid, her other kid, her other kid, and I couldn't see anybody else because the car was messed up so badly,” said Chase Fowler, who saw the accident unfold.

When firefighters arrived they rescued a 13-year-old, but could not save his 10-year-old brother, Jonathan Thacker.

Witnesses were devastated by the wreck.

“I don't really care to see anything like that no more,” said Fowler.

He believes the truck was traveling too fast, considering that the Toyota and the SUV in front of it were stopping for a red light. He says the truck driver, “was going fast enough for me to realize that he was going faster than everybody else on the road at that time.”

He says he did hear the truck's brakes activate, but only after it was too late.

“Made contact pretty good before I heard the truck lock up,” Fowler said.

On Wednesday, state troopers found two of the trucks 10 brakes to be improperly adjusted.

According to federal regulations that means it's not fit for service. The truck's owner was given a civil citation.

Investigators say everyone involved in the crash was wearing seatbelts.

Troopers charged the driver of the truck, 45-year-old Archie Dale Cline, with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

The mother and her 13-year-old son were treated for injuries and released from a hospital.

Investigators told NewsChannel 36 the family was on their way home to Concord when the accident happened just before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.