2 young cyclists die after Tampa crashes

Two accidents involving bicycles.

Eighteen hours apart.

Two dead children.

Now families and those in schools at opposite ends of the county are grieving and remembering a pair of boys who were killed in unrelated crashes.

Mitchell Bowers, 12, of Lutz, died Tuesday evening after he was struck by a car while bicycling on Van Dyke Road in northwestern Hillsborough County. Bryan Lebron Jr., 11, of South Tampa, died Wednesday afternoon after he was struck by a car at South Dale Mabry Highway and Bay Avenue.

Mitchell was a seventh-grader at Bob Martinez Middle School. Bryan was in the fifth grade at a local elementary school.

"Mitch is the kind of kid that any teacher falls in love with," said Kathleen Baten, who taught him in a city design and engineering class. "He is creative, he has amazing ideas. He is funny. He has an amazing sense of humor that would have all of us rolling off while working on the project."

In the class, Mitchell was on a four-member team that won a contest Saturday in St. Petersburg related to the regional design of a future city. He and his teammates were planning to compete next month in Washington.

"It was devastating," Baten said of the accident. "It has been an incredible, difficult 24 hours. I feel for his family. His mother is wonderful. I love her. I can't imagine what they are going through right now."

Mitchell was a polished student who easily understood math and had a love for books at an early age. His grandmother, Suzanne Mitchell of Jacksonville, remembered him staying up late to read when he was 6 years old. Last year, she said, he read George Orwell's "1984."

But his intelligence didn't interfere with him being a casual, curious and friendly child, Suzanne Mitchell said. He played soccer, football and was a member of Boy Scout Troop 314. In December, he took a trip to Washington, D.C., with his scout troop.

"He was a good son," Suzanne Mitchell said. "And a good big brother."

In Tuesday's crash, Mitchell was heading west in the bicycle lane of Van Dyke approaching Currie Ford Drive when he was struck about 6:45 p.m., Hillsborough County deputies said. Bola Rezk-Alla, 17, was also westbound on Van Dyke in a 2001 Honda when the youngster turned left in front of the car.

Mitchell, of 17611 Archland Pass, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

In Wednesday's crash, Bryan was trying to cross Dale Mabry to catch up with his father and sibling, who were waiting in the median, Tampa police say. A 2002 Kia heading south in the right lane struck him.

Several MacDill Air Force Base paramedics saw the crash and tried to help the boy, who later died at Tampa General Hospital, according to police. The Kia's driver, 16-year-old Kayla Arnold, was taken to the hospital to deal with emotional trauma.

Arnold will not be cited.

Bryan, of 6720 S. Lois Avenue, Apt. 2107, wasn't wearing a helmet when the crash occurred, police say.