Vigil Will Mark A Year Since 6-Year-Old Boy Was Killed On His Bike In Jersey City

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Just days after finishing kindergarten in June 2025, Eli Bender, 6, was killed while riding his bike alongside his father in their tree-lined Jersey City neighborhood.

Friends and neighbors placed flowers, stuffed animals, a soccer ball, and letters near the street corner, and bike advocates asked for more safety measures.

A year later, the advocacy group SafeStreetsJC will host a vigil in Eli's memory this weekend.

The vigil will be held at Jersey Avenue and Sixth Street at 11 a.m. this Saturday.

The family is encouraging that any donations be given to Jersey Cats, Jersey City Mutual Aid, and Save the Children, the group said.

"A year has passed since the tragic traffic death of Eli Bender," the group said in a message. "Please join us for a vigil this Saturday ... to honor Eli's memory and to recommit to taking action and preventing any loss of life on Jersey City streets."

Eli was riding his bike on June 13, 2025, when a UPS delivery truck struck him at an intersection, officials said at the time.

Since the tragedy, the group BikeJC has placed a white "ghost bike" at the corner, one of six around the city symbolizing residents who died on their bicycles.

The city has at least four other memorials to pedestrians and bicyclists killed by vehicles in recent years, including a pair of "ghost shoes" for a pedestrian who died, the group's president, Tyler Newcomb, said last year.

Eli Bender was survived by his parents, who lived a block from where Eli was hit, as well as his infant brother Isaac.

He had finished kindergarten at Hamilton Park Montessori School in Jersey City days before he was struck. READ MORE: Boy, 6, Struck And Killed By Truck While Riding Bike In Jersey City