NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Night after night, Camron Small’s mother would send him text messages.

“Please come home, please come home,” they would read.

Camron is a runaway no more, and his family can only hope he’s in a place where he can find his late grandmother, who died in December.

Not far from his home, the 14-year-old Camron, a Ruffner Middle School student, died after being hit by a car while he was riding a bike Wednesday night on E. Princess Anne Road, police said.

Around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to the intersection of E. Princess Anne Road and Ballentine Boulevard for the report of a crash involving a bicyclist. When first responders arrived, they found the teen suffering life-threatening injuries.

He was taken to the hospital, where he died Thursday from his injuries, police said.

The driver of the car involved remained at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

When Camron was born, Cierra Small could always turn to her mother for help in rear her son with the bright eyes.

The help was desperately needed, as the family grew and Camron’s dad was in prison.

“I was 16 when I had him,” Cierra Small said.

Everything changed last year when Camron became a teenager and his beloved grandmother, Rosalind Butts, became ill. She died in December from multiple sclerosis at age 46.

“We bump heads pretty often, but that’s still my son,” Cierra Small said.

He started running away from home last summer, and in January, after being suspended from Ruffner Middle, he ran away for the last time.

His stepfather was on his way home Wednesday night when he saw a commotion outside the Feather and Fin restaurant at Princess Anne Road and Ballentine Boulevard.

“I noticed that the guy that was on the ground had a red jacket,” Dominic Jones said. “I know my stepson. I got him a red jacket. The cop was trying to calm me down. And I guess it all [went] downhill once he got in the ambulance.”

He was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, and after heroic efforts to save him, the running away was over.

Camron took his last breath at 5:13 a.m. Thursday morning.

What is Cierra Small’s prayer for Camron’s spirit?

“I can’t even think about it,” she said. “I mean, I can’t even begin to think, because if, if it was going to work, my son would still be here. He would still be here.”