A New York Halloween car crash Saturday killed three people in the Bronx as an out-of-control vehicle slammed into a group of trick-or-treaters.
Kristian Leka, 24, was watching after his 10-year-old sister Fiona when a Dodge Charger ran up on a sidewalk on Morris Park Avenue around 4:50 p.m. Saturday, striking him and numerous others. He later died at
Jacobi Medical Center, according to the New York Daily News.
Louis Perez, 65, a U.S. Army veteran and a Vietnam Purple Heart recipient, suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the newspaper. His granddaughter, 10-year-old Nyanna Aquil, also died at Jacobi of internal bleeding and severe head trauma, her mother Natalia Perez told the Daily News.
USA Today reported that police believe the driver of the vehicle may have suffered a seizure or some other medical problem while behind the wheel when the car lost control and hit the trick-or-treaters, but they have not yet confirmed the cause of the accident.
The driver has been identified as 52-year-old Howard Unger, who was listed in serious but stable condition at Jacobi.
"Nyanna was the best
daughter in the world," Natalia Perez told WABC-TV. "She was gorgeous and sweet. [Louis Perez] helped raise my children well, he cleaned, cooked, took them to school every day."
Miriam Perez, Louis Perez's wife, said that her husband was close to his grandchildren.
"He was the greatest grandfather in the world," she said. "He picked up his granddaughters every day from school, he fed them and took care of them. He was so loved by them. They adored him. He will be sorely missed."
Some of the witnesses at the scene of the accident described the horror that injured several other people as well.
"There was a young girl on the side of the car. She was like, 'Can somebody help me?'" witness Kristina DeJesus told the Daily News. "I was screaming at her, 'Whatever you do, don't move.' I had no time to cry . . . to react. My body went into help mode."
Lendita Krasniti, a friend of Leka's, told WABC-TV that he was a giving person.
"Amazing guy, he did everything for everyone," she said. "He did not deserve to go young."
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