Grief counselors were made available Monday for students and staff at the elementary school where Askari Mylikye Moore was a fifth-grader.
Askari Mylikye Moore, 11, of Edison. (Submitted photo) EDISON -- Officials at Lincoln Elementary School are reeling from the loss of an 11-year-old student who was killed on Friday after he was hit by a vehicle in the parking lot near his home.
In a letter sent to parents on Saturday, Principal Timothy Hart expressed "great sadness" for the death of Askari Mylikye Moore.
"There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a child, especially at such a young age," Hart wrote. "It is difficult to convey the depth of the loss that we all feel and the complexity of feelings that we will experience over the next few days and weeks."
Askari was skateboarding Friday night around 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Durham Woods apartment complex in Edison when he was hit by a 2009 Honda Accord, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Edison police Chief Thomas J. Bryan said in a joint statement released on Monday. Askari was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where he was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m.
No charges have been filed against the driver, who authorities did not identify.
Surrounded by friends and family in her apartment, Askari's mother, Shakera Moore wept as she told NJ Advance Media about the moment she learned of the death of her only child.
"My whole world revolved around him," she said.
As students returned to Lincoln Elementary School, where Askari was a fifth-grader, grief counselors were made available for students and staff, Hart said in the letter to parents.
The school's crisis team also met with staff members and reviewed plans on how to comfort Askari's peers, the letter states.
Friends and family mourned the loss of Askari in the parking lot of the Durham Woods apartment complex Sunday afternoon. They stood beside a makeshift memorial that includes a white sign with the words, "you will be missed," Mylar balloons, candles, a football and a teddy bear.
Hart, the school's principal, said no memorial plans had been set yet, but that he would release that information when it's available.
"Our hearts go out to the child's family in this time of mourning," Hart said. "I know that I speak for the entire school community when I write that we are here to lend comfort and support during this time of sadness."
Authorities asked anyone with information to call Detective Joseph Chonka of the Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7400, or Detective Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at (723) 745-3300.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.