SALISBURY, N.C. -- Students at a Salisbury school are mourning the loss of a classmate who died Sunday afternoon, hours after a crash that threw him from a pickup truck.

Jonathon Richardson, 14, died around 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He was in a truck with two other teens around 10 p.m. Saturday on Potneck Road when the driver ran off the right side of the road in a curve, over-corrected and crashed. The truck rolled several times.

The teens were traveling less than a mile, from one’s house to another, when the crash happened.

Thomas Mastres is a neighbor and also works with the wrecker service that picked up the truck. He said he’s seen many similar crashes.

“It shakes me up just looking at the vehicle over there in the lot. It is tragic. The kids get out there, and they don’t realize how heavy a vehicle is. They get to driving too fast at night,” Mastres said.

None of the teens in the small Nissan truck were wearing seat belts, but only Richardson was thrown from the vehicle. He was airlifted to the hospital. The other teens were not seriously injured.

Troopers said the teen behind the wheel wasn’t even supposed to be driving at the time. Matthew Bishop, 17, has a restricted license and was not supposed to drive after 9 p.m. Trooper Brad Potts said Bishop was also driving too fast for the curve. Bishop is charged with reckless driving, but Potts is taking the results of his investigation to the district attorney to determine whether more serious charges will be filed.

“It's terrible, the charges that may be involved, (Bishop) is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. Sure he's torn up over it," Mastres said.

Richardson attended North Hills Christian School. Classmates held a candlelight vigil for him at the school Sunday night.

On Monday, friends and school staff said “Jonny” was a popular student, and he will be missed.

Brian Cook was Richardson’s basketball coach. He said he can’t explain the impact of the loss.

"How do you replace somebody like that? How do you replace a young man that's in the prime of his life and well-loved amongst the school? It's real heartbreaking," he said.

Guidance counselor Carolyn Barker said she’s trying to help the grieving students.

"This is a new experience for them. They have had questions about why. We don't know why. We only know we can trust God," she said.