Friends, family mourn loss of Boiling Springs student

The boys had played chicken with cars before. Just not at night on a well-traveled interstate.

Throwing all concern for safety aside, the three boys snuck out of a Valley Falls home about 1 a.m. Saturday, planning to dodge traffic on I-85. Ivan Espinoza made it across twice.

The third try took his life.

As two friends watched, an 18-wheeler struck and killed Ivan, 12. One was Luke Milan, Ivan's half-brother and best friend. The boys were staying with him that night.

Luke looks to the ground when he thinks about what he saw.

"I remember a lot," the 13-year-old said. "I remember the whole thing."

Family gathered Monday at Ivan's Inman home, 106 Ivey Circle, to mourn the death of the bubbly Boiling Springs Intermediate School sixth-grader.

His aunt, Angela Bailey, remembered a boy full of life and passionate about girls and skateboarding.

"He was very loving, very kind and considerate, but also a typical boy," she said. "He loved to skate."

Ivan, a Spartanburg-area native, frequented the skate park in Inman every weekend.

He picked up the sport less than two years ago, said his older brother, 16-year-old Martin Hernandez.

And he was a good student, Hernandez said - when the girls didn't distract him.

"He liked the ladies," he said. "We couldn't keep him away from them - that's the truth."

At Boiling Springs Intermediate Monday, children held a moment of silence and wrote letters to Ivan's family, sharing their memories and condolences.

Ivan's funeral is scheduled for 3 p.m. today in the chapel at Eggers Funeral Home.

"He made friends with everyone," said Boiling Springs Intermediate Principal Tammy Greer.

"He was always smiling. No matter what happened, he had a smile on his face."

Luke, meanwhile, said he's more than learned his lesson about dangerous games.

And Ivan, Hernandez said, will be watching out for his beloved brother from heaven.

"He's up there," Hernandez said. "He's going to keep him out of trouble."