Police: 14-year-old Fortune Williams dead after teen driver crashes into UPS truck, tractor-trailer in Queens
NEW YORK -- It has happened again -- another crash with an unlicensed 16-year-old driver behind the wheel.
This time a 14-year-old girl from Queens was killed.
Earlier this month, an unlicensed 16-year-old crashed into a school bus in the Westchester County town of New Castle, injuring nine.
In March, an unlicensed 16-year-old driver crashed on the Hutchinson River Parkway. Five kids ranging in age from 8 to 17, including the driver, were killed.
The latest tragedy happened off the Belt Parkway in Springfield Gardens. Security video from a home along North Conduit Avenue near 160th Street shows a speeding 2005 BMW attempting to change lanes at around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The driver loses control, striking a UPS truck parked in a travel lane.
The impact knocks down the delivery driver, who was by the passenger door. The BMW then hits a tractor trailer.
"It was like booosh," one witness said, describing the crash.
"I heard a big boom," another said.
Neighbors rushed over.
"There was nothing that could be done," one said.
"It was a really tragic scene. I don't wish death on nobody and she was young," another said.
The passenger in the BMW, 14-year-old Fortune Williams, was ejected and killed.
"I spoke to her that night at 6:04 and when I was hanging up she said, 'Mom, I love you,'" said Keisha Francis, the mother of the victim.
Francis said Williams would tell her multiple times a day she loved her. She did not expect that to be the very last time.
"I don't know what's gonna become of me after this, because I cannot live without my Fortune," Francis said.
Francis went back to the scene and found some of her daughter's jewelry.
Williams was a student at Springfield Gardens High School, taking nursing classes with a dream of becoming a doctor.
"She had a honor roll ceremony on the 24th, and we were preparing for that and her birthday is coming on June 4," Francis said. "She loved music. She loved to dance."
Police say behind the wheel of the BMW was a 16-year-old unlicensed driver.
Neighbors say they frequently witness drivers speeding along that stretch of road.
"A lot. There's always something going down," one said.
"Many accidents," another said. "It has been happening for years."
The Department of Transportation said the last fatality by that roadway was in 2018.
Police say there have been no arrests in Wednesday night's crash and the investigation is ongoing.
The UPS driver and 16-year-old driver were taken to hospitals and are okay. The tractor trailer driver was not injured.
