What to Know
- 23-year-old Desray Leroy was killed and 6 other people were hurt when two cars collided in Queens early Sunday morning
- Leroy had been out celebrating her younger sister's birthday just before the crash
- A 53-year-old woman in the other car was arrested for aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle at the scene
A 23-year-old Queens woman was killed and six other people were injured in a t-bone crash at a Queens intersection Sunday morning, authorities said.
Desray Leroy was riding in an Audi sedan at about 4:30 a.m. with five other passengers and a driver when their car was struck by the driver of a Honda Civic near the corner of 120 Street and Linden Boulevard in South Ozone Park, according to police.
Leroy had been out celebrating her younger sister’s birthday with friends. Video posted to Snapchat shows Leroy dancing and riding in the Audi earlier that night.
In video of the crash, two cars collide and the Audi flips upside down and lands violently against a wall. Police said the Audi blew a stop sign at the intersection moments before the crash.
The Audi, which only seats five people, had seven crammed inside at the time of the collision. Leroy was on another person’s lap. In the video, her friends and younger sister can be seen climbing out of the smoking car.
Leroy and the six other people in the Audi were transported to area hospitals, according to the NYPD. They included a driver, four men in their early 20s and a 21-year-old woman.
Local
Leroy suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital. The driver was critically injured in the crash and taken to Elmhurst Hospital. The four men and 21-year-old woman were taken to Jamaica in stable condition.
The driver of the Honda, 53-year-old Ray Mouton, was arrested for aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle at the scene of the crash, authorities said. It's unclear if she was injured.
Leroy had recently graduated from a radiology program and was preparing for her future. She was less than a mile away from home when the two cars collided.
“Everybody’s reaction was: ‘This has to be a joke. It has to be. There’s no way. We just saw her,’” Edward Davis, Leroy’s childhood friend, said.
“She had just finished her radiology program, she was planning on taking care of her mom,” Davis said.
Friends and family are now left to remember who Leroy was and to mourn who she could have become.
Police said the crash is still under investigation.
