Police: Shannon Cucozza facing charges in death of 1-year-old Lian Mashni on Staten Island
NEW YORK -- A driver is now facing charges after police say she killed a 1-year-old girl walking with her mother Thursday on Staten Island.
Shannon Cucozza, 40, was charged with failure to yield and not exercising due care.
Police said Cucozza stayed on the scene after hitting 1-year-old Lian Mashni and her mother just after 7 a.m. near the intersection of Scarboro Avenue and Abbott Street in Rosebank.
Investigators said a commercial vehicle may have been parked in a way that made it difficult for Cucozza to see them.
"I went to the lady. She told me it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault because there was a truck in the way when she made that turn, she couldn't see, and she hit the lady with the baby," witness Francies Gracia told CBS2.
Friends of the mother said she made it a ritual to walk her baby girl to day care before picking up her car and heading to work.
"She's a lovely mom. She always walks around," Sandra Romero said.
The mother was hospitalized with leg injuries.
"It is heartbreaking," said Theresa Torres. "I've seen her and the husband and the baby ... They are very nice people and they're very quiet."
We're told the girl is an only child and her mother is expected to recover.