Sebastian Duque, 12,

came to Orlando from Venezuela with his family a few months ago. On Tuesday night, the Freedom Middle School student was killed by a driver who fled after striking the child on International Drive.

Sebastian Duque, the 12-year-old boy killed in a hitand-run Tuesday night on International Drive, came to Orlando from Venezuela with his family a few months ago, a friend said.

Sebastian enrolled in Freedom Middle School and, because he did not speak much English, grew close to a fellow student named Juan Tabares, who helped him out.

“He was like my brother,” Juan said Wednesday.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers are still looking for the driver who hit Sebastian. They received a tip about the identity of a man they are calling a “person of interest” overnight and found him Wednesday, FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said.

“That person of interest refused to cooperate and has informed troopers that he has obtained an attorney,” she said. Troopers did not identify the man.

Sebastian was crossing International Drive on his bicycle near the intersection with Westwood Boulevard about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Montes said. He was with friends and not in a crosswalk, she said.

The driver stopped the 2005 Ford Focus and fled on foot, she said. The car is registered in Ohio.

Sebastian was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Montes said. He died at the hospital, with his father at his side, she said.

Juan was with Sebastian when he was hit. Tears welled in his eyes as he waited for his parents to come to the scene.

“The car was going so fast,” he said.

Juan said he and Sebastian often hung out after school, eating pizza and playing soccer or video games on a PlayStation.

“He was very friendly, very charismatic,” he said. “Really funny, always happy.”

Terrezza Smith, a clerk at the nearby 7-Eleven, said she was mopping when she heard the boys come to the store after the accident.

“It was a real high-pitched voice — at first I thought they were laughing,” she said.

“Then he said: ‘They hit my friend. They hit my friend.’ I ran out there, and the ambulance was taking him away.”

Smith said Sebastian often bought Slurpees and candy at the store.

“He was such a cute kid — red hair, freckles,” she said. “He was fun-spirited. It’s so sad.”

Miguel Soles, 16, and his sister came to the scene. Miguel said Sebastian and his sister were friends.

“He was such a beautiful person,” he said. “I feel so bad.”

A neighbor of Sebastian’s family has set up a fundraiser for them on the website Gofundme.

Troopers are still investigating and trying to identify the owner of the Ford Focus that hit Sebastian. Anyone with more information about the crash can call FHP at 407-737-2213 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.

Sebastian’s death is the 100th fatal hit-and-run that FHP troopers statewide have investigated this year, and the 11th in Orange County, Montes said. Orlando police officers investigated another five deaths, all of them pedestrians hit by vehicles.

In 2016, troopers investigated 19 fatal hit-and-runs in Orange County and 99 statewide.

Those numbers do not include hit-and-run investigations in cities that have their own traffic homicide units.