Wrongful Death

Published on: July 23, 2014

A 10 year old girl who didn’t know how to swim died yesterday after falling off a rocky jetty in Coney Island

A 10 year old girl drowned to death yesterday in Coney Island, a popular beach in Brooklyn, New York. Takara McDuffy was playing with her 9 year old sister on a rocky jetty when they fell in the water. The accident happened after 6 pm. The life guards had left the beach. The two sisters were pulled out of the water by two young men who saw the accident and jumped in the water to the rescue. The sisters were rushed to the hospital but Takara couldn’t be saved and died. Her sister wasn’t injured.

Unintentional drowning is the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 14 and African American children have a 3 times greater risk of drowning than Caucasian because many of them don’t know how to swim. Programs such as Asphalt Green and Swim Programs from NYC Park have been providing free swim instructions and water safety programs to help prevent drowning accidents.

Several young people before Takara drowned to death since the beginning of the summer in New York. A 2 year old girl was found dead in Prospect Park Lake at the beginning of this month (see our previous blog). At the end of June a 21 year old student celebrating his graduation was swept away by the current after trying to swim in the East River in Williamsburg. A few days earlier two 13 year old cousins died after jumping in the Bronx River.

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Published on: July 15, 2014

A 49 year old female pedestrian died yesterday night after being struck by at least one car in Brooklyn, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

A pedestrian died after she was hit by at least one car on Flatbush Ave near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. The accident happened yesterday night after 9 pm and heavy rainfalls were reducing drivers visibility. According to the NY Daily News, the woman had exited of a parked car and was trying to cross Flatbush Ave. A 37 year old motorist hit her and did not stop immediately but returned to the scene shortly after. He told the police that he didn’t realize immediately that he had hit a person. According to the police it is possible that a second car also hit the woman.

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Published on: July 15, 2014

After a Wal-Mart truck crashed into Tracy Morgan’s van injuring 3 people and killing one, Lawrence O’Donnell covered the issue of “fatigued truck drivers” on his show last night

By GGCRBHS&M

Around 4000 people die and more than 100,000 people are injured every year in truck accidents.

Fatigue is one of the most common reasons why truck accidents happen.

Before crashing into Tracy Morgan’s van, the Wal-Mart truck driver didn’t sleep for 24 hours. The National Transportation Safety Board said that the driver was 13 hours into his shift at the time of the accident and the limit is 14 hours. However prior to the start of his shift, the truck driver commuted from his home in Georgia to the Wal-Mart facility in Delaware.

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Published on: July 14, 2014

67 year old nursing home resident sentenced to 17 years in jail after beating another resident to death

By GGCRBHS&M

An elderly man who killed his nursing home roommate at the Ocean Promenade Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Rockaway Park, Queens will be sentenced to 17 years in prison. Last year 67 year old Thomas Yarnavick got into a dispute with his roommate, Jailall Singh and beat him to death with the footrest of his wheelchair (See our previous blog) .

White Plains Road, a dangerous roadway in the Bronx, New York, will be redesigned to reduce deaths and personal injuries related to traffic accidents

By GGCRBHS&M

With an average of 27 deaths or severe injuries related to traffic accidents per mile, White Plains Road in the Bronx is one of the most dangerous roads in New York City. 8 people died in crashes between 2007 and 2014 and it was identified by the Vision Zero Program as a High Crash Corridor. The intersection at White Plains Road and Morris Park Ave figures in the top 20 High Pedestrian Crash Locations in NYC.

Last week the Community Board 9 voted unanimously in favor of a proposal of the New York City Department of Transportation to revamp the road to make it safer. The changes include modified parking lanes and the addition of a left turn bay to reduce speeding and better organize traffic.

Read more and see video on the Bronx News 12 website

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Published on: July 11, 2014

Despite Zero Vision Efforts to reduce Traffic Fatalities Another Pedestrian was Struck resulting in her Death Yesterday on the Upper West Side of Manhattan a Few Blocks Away from where Cooper Stock was Killed by a Taxi in January

By GGCRBHS&M

A pedestrian was killed after a SUV making a left turn hit her and dragged her down a New York street for half a block . The pedestrian was 61 year old Jean Chamber, an artist who lived on the Upper west Side. She was crossing West End with the light when a SUV making a left turn from 95th street struck her causing her death.

The number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents in NYC during the first five months of 2014 decreased compared to the same period of 2013 with pedestrians deaths down by 21% and pedestrian personal injuries down by 7.5%

By GGCRBHS&M

25 people died in vehicle accidents last May in NYC. Among them were 9 pedestrians, 2 cyclists, 3 vehicle passengers and 11 motorists.This is the highest number of people killed during the length of a month on New York City roads since the beginning of the year. Last April 21 people died in vehicle accidents and during the same month a year earlier, 15 people were killed in traffic accidents.
When looking at the numbers since the beginning of the year, the total number of people killed on the road in the city since the beginning of the year is 97 compared to 99 for the same period of 2013.

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The number of pedestrian deaths was 9 during the month of May compared to 8 last April and 6 in May 2013. Since the beginning of the year 48 pedestrians lost their life in a traffic accident compared to 61 for the first 5 months of 2014, a decrease of 21%.

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The number of cyclist deaths in May 2014 was stable at 2 compared to May 2013 and higher than last April, a month during which one cyclist died. The total number of cyclists who died in a traffic accident since the beginning of 2014 is 5 compared to 3 for the first five months of 2013.
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Published on: July 7, 2014

A 2 year old girl drowned in Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, NYC, this week-end

By GGCRBHS&M

2 year old Ruhshona Kurbonova drowned in Prospect Park Lake on Saturday afternoon after she wandered off from a family BBQ in the park. The rescuers found the tot’s body 5 hours after the girl was found to be missing. The search for the little girl was difficult because the lake was covered by an algae called Azolla caroliniara.

Parents in the park complain that it is difficult to see where the water actually starts and that children may actually not even think its water and then fall in.

Drowning is the second leading cause of of unintentional injury related death among children aged 1 to 14 in the US.

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Published on: June 30, 2014

7 crashes, 8 personal injuries and 3 wrongful death leads General Motors to recall an additional 8.4 million potentially defective cars worlwide

By GGCRBHS&M

General%20Motor.jpg The potentially defective cars are recalled mostly because they may have ignition defects that lead to inadvertent key rotation. The models recalled are models of the Cadillac CTS and SRX, and the Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo and Impala, as well as the Oldsmobile Intrigue and Alero, and Pontiac Grand Am and Grand Prix. The model years range from 1997 to 2014. The trading of GM shares was temporarily suspended during the announcement.

The reckless unlicensed teen driver who killed 4 year old Ariel Russo while fleeing from the police on the Upper West Side of Manhattan was offered a reduced sentence and a sealed record if he plead guilty to manslaughter.

By GGCRBHS&M

Franklin Reyes was 17 year old when he was busted for fatally hitting 4 year old Ariel Russo with his car as he was fleeing from the cops. According to prosecutors Reyes had been driving illegally since age 15 and was bragging on Facebook about speeding.

Ariel Russo’s family wanted the judge to treat Reyes as an adult and to sentence him with 15 years of jail. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro however called it a difficult case and offered a sealed record along with a light sentence of 16 months to 4 years in jail if Reyes plead guilty to manslaughter. “Although the horrific consequence, not heeding to the police orders to pull over, are grave … weighing in all the factors I do think youthful offender treatment is appropriate,” Carro said.