After Scotch Plains teen’s e-bike death, family channels grief into scholarship

🕯️ 13-year-old Nico Lombardi killed in tragic e-bike accident
💔 Scotch Plains community mourns beloved student and friend
🏀 Family raising funds for basketball scholarship in his name

SCOTCH PLAINS — The sudden death of a 13-year-old boy in an e-bike crash has left his hometown grief-stricken, rippling out across New Jersey.

Nico Lombardi was an eighth grader at Malcolm E. Nettingham Middle School in Scotch Plains.

The teen was killed after a crash with a landscaping truck on Wednesday after 2 p.m., at the intersection of Mountain Avenue and Mountainview Avenue.

Community mourns loss of “sweetest boy”

“A beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend, his life was filled with joy, love, and an unforgettable sense of humor,” according to an online obituary on Friday.

“Nico was the sweetest boy, known by all for his kind heart and bright smile.” He is survived by his parents, two siblings, maternal grandparents and extended family.

Read More: E-bike collision claims life of 13-year-old in Scotch Plains 

Family plans basketball scholarship in Nico’s name

The Lombardi family would be using donations to a GoFundme campaign to create a basketball scholarship in Nico’s memory, as it was a sport he loved playing with his friends.

He played with two teams, as well as casually “shooting hoops” at Forest Road Park and gaming with his buddies, playing NBA2K, his obituary said.

As of Friday early afternoon, roughly $137,000 had been raised in donations.

Crash investigation ongoing; services planned locally

A visitation was set for Saturday at Rossi Funeral Home in Scotch Plains, with overflow parking at the middle school where he was a student, among local plans.

A private service for family and close friends was planned for Monday.

Scotch Plains police have said that the truck driver is cooperating with the crash investigation.

Mountain Avenue runs through a northern stretch of town, just south of Route 22 and parallel to Westfield Avenue.

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