What to Know
- A 15-year-old boy was killed when he was struck and killed while out as a delivery boy Saturday night
- His uncle says his nephew arrived recently from Guatemala and was working to support his family back home
- The driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene; there were four men in the car, according to witnesses, who say one of them ran off
A 15-year-old who was working as a delivery boy to support his family in Guatemala was struck and killed by a car in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, police and family say.
The boy, identified by family as Edwin Vincente, was pronounced dead at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital after being rushed there with injuries to his head and body, according to the NYPD, who identified him as Edwin Ajacalon.
Vicente's uncle said his nephew arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala a couple of years ago and lived with him. Most of his family is back home in Central America and he was working to support them.
Vicente was riding his bike to work on 23rd Street in Park Slope when a BMW sedan hit him shortly before 6 p.m. at Fifth Avenue, police said.
A deli clerk provided surveillance video to NBC 4 New York. The video shows Vicente riding through the intersection when the BMW rams into him.
His shattered bike could be seen sitting in the middle of the street after the crash.
Local
"We saw the boy lying on the ground, there was a lot of blood around him," Stephanie Cordova Rodriguez said. "His bike was in two pieces. His hat was on one side, his shoes were on another."
Witnesses say there were four men in the car and that only three of them stayed.
"One of the boys who was in the car was trying to leave, and one of his friends was trying to convince him to stay," Rodriguez said. "He ended up leaving before the cops came."
The driver stayed at the scene and has not been arrested, police said. They said an investigation is ongoing and that it's currently unclear who had the right-of-way.
The driver was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Witnesses say he was hysterical after the crash.
"He didn't know how to react," Rodriguez said. "There was also a lot of people around yelling at him because he hit the boy."
Meanwhile, Vicente's family back home was getting the unfathomable news that their son was killed in a tragic accident.
"Because he's an immigrant, because he can't get a better-paying job, he has to take a job as a delivery boy, where there's many risks," Rodriguez said. "It's just not fair, he's just trying to get ahead in life."
