Karder Hardy, 4, after he jumps out of a parked car at the intersection of 11th and Upland Streets in Chester, and is struck by a van.

A young boy is dead after being hit by a car in Chester on Saturday evening.

According to police, Karder Hardy, 4, was sitting in a parked car near the intersection of 11th and Upland Streets at about 5pm. He jumped out of the car and into the path of an on-coming Ford van that couldn’t stop in time.

The driver of the van did stop at the scene after hitting the little boy. An ambulance rushed the child to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

It’s been an incredibly sad day for this family. Chester Mayor John Linder says Karder’s father, 38-year-old Derek Brown, was shot and killed in Chester last weekend, and his funeral was just hours before the accident.

“You just can’t explain this away,” he said. “You just got to support them and try to give them what they need to get though this.”

Police commissioner Joseph Bail says he can only imagine what the family is going through.

“My grandson is only a couple years older than this child. Anytime you deal with children, it’s just a hopeless… you’re helpless. And your heart goes out to the family to try to support them.”

Police are investigating this as an accident.