13-Year-Old Girl Fatally Struck By Car In Queens; 2nd Teen Hurt
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One teenage girl is dead and another injured after they were hit by a car while walking to school in Queens, police said.
It happened around 6:45 a.m. Monday as the two 13-year-old girls were crossing busy Cross Bay Boulevard near 149th Avenue in Ozone Park.
Jazmine Marin suffered severe head trauma and died at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, police said. Her friend suffered a leg injury and is in stable condition. The girls were struck just two blocks from the middle school where Marin was a student.
New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña issued a statement saying she is deeply saddened by the tragic loss and her heartfelt condolences are with the family.
Police said the car that struck the girls was heading southbound on Cross Bay Boulevard and had a green light, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported. The girls were in the crosswalk, but it's not clear if the crosswalk light was red.
Some in the neighborhood said the signals can be confusing.
"You get the light, but they have the light also, and they're going fast," said Ozone Park resident John Pellegrino.
With eight lanes of traffic and diagonal intersections, longtime residents said the roadway is extremely dangerous.
"Cross Bay Boulevard in the morning it's a raceway," Andrew Lewis, who lives nearby, said. "Nobody has regard for anyone else's lives."
Neighbors were stunned to hear of Marin's death.
"I'm shocked, that could be my child," said neighbor Rafeek Khan.
Marin's grandmother spoke through the door of the family's Queens home to CBS2's Alice Gainer.
She said the girl's father is devastated by the loss of his only child, and that Jazmine was the love and light of her life.
The 55-year-old driver remained at the scene and has not been charged. A man seen going into the car to retrieve documents refused to comment.
In a statement on Monday, the DOT said that they have, "developed a safety redesign for this intersection as part of Woodhaven-Cross Bay Boulevard Select Bus Service. The agency plans to install the following safety and mobility treatments in 2017."
That plan includes restricting northbound left turns to 149th Ave and adding a pedestrian refuge, curb extensions to realign the intersection as a 4-way intersection -- making the northern crossing shorter and more direct, building out the eastern side of the intersection by extending the sidewalk to the median bus stop, and adding peak period bus lanes.
The investigation is ongoing.
