EDENTON, N.C. (WAVY) — It’s an unfortunate story of a daughter who was taken away too soon.

Marketa Boston told 10 On Your Side that she and her 25-year-old daughter Nykia Boston were walking home along NC-32 in Edenton.

“We were walking, facing traffic and she was maybe arms length behind me and we were just walking and talking,” Boston said.

Then, tragedy struck.

“I heard a loud boom behind me,” Marketa Boston said. “So I spun around and I saw nothing. She was no longer there. He came across the yellow line and took Nana [Nykia] from the back.”

Nykia was hit by a driver who didn’t stop.

Authorities say that driver is 26-year-old Corion Leary from Tyner, North Carolina — now charged with felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor death by vehicle.

Marketa Boston said she heard the car speeding up to get away as she turned around.

“But as I ran up and down the street, just running up and down, I didn’t see her anywhere,” she said.

Eventually, a man called 911 and authorities started searching for Nykia.

Then, they came upon a sight that is every mother’s worst nightmare — her daughter’s body lying in the woods in front of a floral shop.

“I’m stunned, I’m lost,” Marketa Boston said. “This is my second child being murdered in less than nine months. I just had a son murdered October 2023.”

She told 10 On Your Side her daughter was a pure soul, a bookworm and her best friend.

“Whatever it is that I do in life, who do I do it with now? Because she’s gone,” she said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe for anyone who would be able to help with the cost of Nykia’s funeral.