MOULTRIE, Ga. — Two young brothers were hit by a car Thursday morning as they crossed a rural road to their school bus. One of them was pronounced dead less than 12 hours later.

Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock identified the deceased as 10-year-old Noah John Palmer. Palmer had been flown by helicopter to a Macon hospital earlier in the day, the Georgia State Patrol said.

That’s where he was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., Brock said.

The accident happened about 6:50 a.m. on Thigpen Trail, according to the GSP.

GSP Cpl. Kenneth Jones said a school bus was stopped on Thigpen Trail to pick up the students, who attended Hamilton Elementary School. The bus was facing northbound with its stop arm extended, and a southbound Kia automobile failed to stop and struck the boys as they crossed the road.

Palmer’s 7-year-old brother, Dylan, was airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee, Jones said. He said the boy was in serious condition.

Prior to Palmer’s death, Jones said the driver of the Kia, Monica Cutts, 26, of Tallahassee, was charged with driving while license suspended, a school bus violation and two counts of serious injury by vehicle.

Jones said the investigation is continuing but there was no immediate indication that alcohol, drugs or distracted driving played a role. Thigpen Trail at that location is a straight road, he said, so neither curves nor hills would have been a factor either.

The accident happened almost an hour before sunrise.