{"id":466,"date":"2025-06-30T00:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T00:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/?p=466"},"modified":"2025-06-30T00:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T00:20:48","slug":"a-brave-radiant-spirit-loved-ones-pay-tribute-to-12-year-old-killed-in-dirt-bike-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/?p=466","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Brave, Radiant Spirit\u201d: Loved Ones Pay Tribute to 12-Year-Old Killed in Dirt Bike Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Friends and family of 12-year-old Mikey Malanda say his last ride last weekend was part of a regular routine\u2014something he had done almost every Sunday for years. He left home on his dirt bike, went to a nearby gas station to fill up, and then planned to meet friends to ride his pedal bike around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mikey had learned to carefully navigate the narrow streets of his northwest Charlotte neighborhood, especially the busy intersection of Oakdale and Auten roads\u2014just as his aunt had always taught him. But tragedy occurred around 1 p.m. on Sunday. Authorities report that Mikey\u2019s bike collided with a pickup truck at that exact spot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe just went out to get a little gas so he could do something that made him happy,\u201d said his aunt, Laure Makiona. \u201cWe never thought that would be the last time we\u2019d see him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The devastating crash happened just weeks after Mikey finished sixth grade at Lake Norman Charter School in Huntersville, where he had been a student since kindergarten. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are still investigating the cause of the collision, and no charges have been filed at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikey was headed to a gas station he had visited many times\u2014first accompanied by his father before he was old enough to ride alone. It was only minutes from the home he shared with his dad, also named Mike Malanda. The two shared a special bond over their favorite movie, Charm City Kings<\/em>, which tells the story of a Baltimore teen pursuing his dream of joining a local group of stunt riders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same home was where Mikey received his first bike\u2014a small 5-volt electric model\u2014which thrilled him then, just as he was later excited when his mother, Amie Malanda, saved up to surprise him with a bigger, faster bike: the very one he was riding that Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe had been fascinated with motorcycles since he was two,\u201d his father said. \u201cHe loved riding bikes and showing off his tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Big Mike\u2019 at Lake Norman Charter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although Mikey was an only child, his cousins considered him a true brother, and his aunts treated him like a son. He spent countless afternoons on the field with his 15-year-old cousin, Tiger Mukendi, playing lacrosse and comparing their heights\u2014Mikey was eager to catch up. Mukendi had been coaching him ahead of tryouts, and Mikey looked forward to joining the school\u2019s lacrosse team that fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friends and family of 12-year-old Mikey Malanda say his last ride last weekend was part of a regular routine\u2014something he had done almost every Sunday for years. He left home on his dirt bike, went to a nearby gas station to fill up, and then planned to meet friends to ride his pedal bike around…<\/p>\n

Read More “\u201cA Brave, Radiant Spirit\u201d: Loved Ones Pay Tribute to 12-Year-Old Killed in Dirt Bike Accident”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions\/475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolxmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}