CBS2 Exclusive: Mother Speaks After Teen Is Run Over By Van In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens teenager's mother spoke out Friday, after the boy was run over not once, not twice – but three times.
As CBS2's Marc Liverman reported exclusively, tubes and needles are all over 17-year-old Christopher Miraba's body. He was lying in a hospital bed Friday, three days after being hit by a van.
The Queens District Attorney's office said it was not an accident.
Christopher Miraba's mother, Maria, said the last few days have been a nightmare.
"He has broken bones -- his pelvis; his leg. He's going to have screws in his body," Maria Miraba said. "My son has never been in anything like this before, for him to now have to live a life of pain. I can't believe that this is happening."
The District Attorney's office said Christopher was in a group that had been throwing eggs around 8:19 p.m. Halloween night near 23rd Street and Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, Queens. At that point, Keith Richard, 50, drove right onto the sidewalk, prosecutors said.
"He jumped a curb, ate a red light, made an illegal U-turn and hit him," Maria Miraba said. "My son actually pushed one of his friends out of the way."
Police said after that suspect hit Christopher the first time, he backed up and ran over him. But he didn't stop there, prosecutors said. They say he then pulled forward and ran over him again.
"I got the call that he's been in an accident; that he got hit by a car," Maria Miraba said.
Christopher was rushed to the hospital.
"When I walked in and I saw him, I just couldn't believe my eyes," Maria Miraba said, "but the first thing I did as a mom was check him; make sure he has all his body parts together."
Doctors said Miraba, a quarterback at Long Island City High School, will likely never play football again. The boy played the game to help cope with the loss of his father recently from cancer.
Richard was being held without bail as of Friday, charged with attempted murder and leaving the scene of an accident.
"He could have killed him. I could have been burying my son," Maria Miraba said, "and that's the reality. This man for what he did, there's no forgiveness for what he did."
Maria Miraba said she has not left the hospital since her son was brought there.
If convicted, Richard faces up to 25 years in prison.
Christopher Miraba's football team will be accepting donations at their last home game this Saturday.