DENVER (KDVR) — They called him “Sage.” Family and friends say the three-year-old was full of joy and made people smile and laugh all the time. He was well known in the neighborhood where a hit-and-run crash killed him Thursday night. He lived just two blocks away.

His father, Armando Antone, said he loved balloons, riding his bike, skateboarding and watching “PJ Masks.”

Antone was with Sage when he was hit and killed. He said, “I let him know I loved him. I let him know he wasn’t going to be left alone. I was going to be with him. I already knew my son was gone.”

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to help pay for Sage’s funeral expenses.

Antone said Sage would not want him to be angry.

“If my son could’ve popped up, he would’ve said to that person who ran him over, he would’ve given him a hug and say it’s alright,” Antone said.

Family friends said they were relieved police caught the suspected hit and run driver so quickly.

Debbie Brown said, “It’s sad. Why would somebody do that, heartless and inhuman to just hit somebody and take off?”

Rosio Contreras witnessed the heartbreaking aftermath of the crash. She said, “I just saw the dad holding the boy in his arms, crying and yelling for him. There’s no words. Even though you think it’s your responsibility or not, you need to stay to see what happened to the people. The family deserved to find the driver, because sometimes they don’t find the driver or the people that take something so valuable from you.”

Antone said, “I can’t greet him. I used to say, ‘Good morning sunshine.’ He would say, ‘Hello.’ That’s gone, that’s taken from me. I can’t hold him; I can’t hug him no more. Me and him since he was born, we’ve never been separated. He was just a special little guy.”