5 kids from Connecticut killed in New York car crash; 9-year-old survives
Police are investigating a fatal car crash that left five Connecticut children dead in Westchester County, New York, over the weekend. A 9-year-old boy managed to survive the crash, officials said.
The single-vehicle happened at around 12:20 a.m. on Sunday morning, when a Nissan Rogue veered off a stretch of the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale, struck a tree and caught fire, the Westchester County Police Department said in a news release. Four boys and one girl were killed in the crash. Although their names have not been released, police say the ages of the victims ranged from 8 to 17 years old.
A sixth child, who is 9, survived the crash. The boy escaped the vehicle through the trunk, where he had been seated, and was transferred to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla by ambulance when authorities responded to the scene, police said. The survivor was being treated for injuries not deemed life-threatening at the time of the police department's update.
A 16-year-old boy was driving when the Rogue veered off the parkway, police said. The boy's father, Malik Smith, told CBS New York that his son had gotten behind the wheel before, despite not having a license or driving permit and against advice from numerous family members.
The driver was cousins with the passengers involved in the accident on Sunday, Smith told CBS New York. He said that his son lived in East New York, Brooklyn, while the cousins lived in Connecticut. He told the station that his son would regularly spend time with his cousins over the weekends, and they often went to the movies or to the mall.
"That's his thing. He goes to the mall. He goes to get his ice cream with his cousin. They go to the movies. They walk around the mall. They do what teenagers and kids do, you know," Smith said. "So that's, it's just, I didn't know he was driving by himself."
Smith told CBS New York his son was a good student who enjoyed playing basketball and was beloved by his community.
Connecticut State Rep. Kara Rochelle acknowledged the deadly accident in a Facebook post shared on Sunday.
"Terrible, heartbreaking news emerging of five Derby children lost in a crash in New York. One of the six children in the crash survived," Rochelle wrote. "Please keep these children and their family in your prayers. Please keep all of their friends in your prayers. You are all in my heart, in all of our hearts."