Unlicensed, speeding driver killed boy, 14, crossing Brooklyn street: cops
Police have charged 45-year-old Rayan Salmon over the Saturday evening crash, which killed Christian Antoine, 14, in Canarsie.
A speeding, unlicensed driver caused a chain-reaction crash that killed a 14-year-old boy crossing a Brooklyn street, police said Sunday
Police have charged 45-year-old Rayan Salmon with aggravated unlicensed operation after the Saturday evening crash, which killed Christian Antoine, 14, as he walked home from his father’s house.
“He went to get his dad’s medication and bring it to him,” said the boy’s grieving mother Eveline Mathurin. “They would hang out for a bit but then after that he was on his way home.”
Salmon was driving a 2018 Mercedes SUV, headed west on Glenwood Rd. at an “unsafe speed,” as he approached E. 81st St. at about 6:15 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesman.
A second vehicle, a 2017 GMC pickup truck, was stopped at a stop sign on E. 81st St., and started moving south into the intersection when Salmon’s Mercedes barreled past two double-parked vehicles and through the intersection, cops said.
He hit the GMC, then spun counterclockwise and slammed into the teen with the driver’s side of his SUV, police said.
Medics rushed the teen to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center.
A friend of the family who lives near the crash site called Christian’s mother and told her that the boy was involved in a crash.
“I couldn’t get information from the cops so I went to Brookdale,” Mathurin said. “When I got to Brookdale, Christian was already gone. My baby was gone.”
Christian lived less than a block away from where Salmon hit him.
“His siblings can’t sleep, I can’t sleep, it’s just hard right now,” said Mathurin. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
Christian was in his last year at Ascend Charter Middle School and was heading to high school in the fall.
“All the teachers from his school keep contacting me saying what happened and giving condolences,” Mathurin said. “This kid is an intelligent kid and he was close with his teachers.”
The boy had dreams of becoming a nurse, according to his sister Eudayna Guichar.
“He was giving, he was very quiet [and] he would never say no to you,” said Guichar, 24. “Anything you asked, he would give it to you.”
Christian spent a lot of his free time with his family and enjoyed cooking with his mother.
“Me and him would cook together,” said Mathurin. “Whenever I would cook something new, I would call him over and he would be eager to learn and see what I’m cooking.”
Salmon, who also lives in Canarsie, remains hospitalized in stable condition at Brookdale, police said. The GMC driver was also hospitalized after complaining of pain.
“How are you driving a vehicle without a license?” Mathurin fumed.
Near the crash site Sunday, neighbors recalled past crashes at the notorious intersection, saying drivers often ignore a stop sign.
“This has been going on for years, hopefully this accident, something will change on this intersection,” said a neighbor, who asked to be identified only as Natasha. “Now a child lost their life.”
“They should put a traffic light and a cross walk to make sure people are safe,” said Carnesha Oneale, 40. “It’s very sad for the kid, very sad,”
Cops were still investigating the crash Sunday.