Fundraiser launched for the family of a teenager killed in a hit-and-run in Woodside and his seriously injured sister

June 27, 2024 By Bill Parry

No charges had been filed as of 5 p.m. Thursday against the truck driver arrested Wednesday afternoon following a fatal hit-and-run crash near a Woodside school that left a 16-year-old girl dead and her 8-year-old sister seriously injured, according to an NYPD spokesman, who added that the investigation was ongoing.

The tragic collision occurred at 3:30 p.m., when 16-year-old Jael Zhinin and her little sister Leslie had just exited IS 125 on their last day of school and were in the crosswalk at the intersection of 47th Avenue and 46th Street when the 28-year-old driver of a delivery truck heading west on 47th Avenue turned left onto 46th Street, where he struck the girls and allegedly drove away.

Police from the 108th Precinct found him in the truck a block away and took him into custody.

Emergency services arrived on the scene and pronounced Jael dead at the scene. Her little sister, Leslie, was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was found in critical but stable condition.

The investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad is ongoing.

The family was devastated and a friend started a GoFundMe account to help pay for Jael’s funeral expenses and the “overwhelming cost of medical bills” while Leslie recovers from her injuries.

“Together, we can provide critical support and comfort to Jael’s family as they cope with this heartbreaking loss and help Leslie on her path to healing,” wrote organizer Jenifer Quizhpi. “Thank you for your compassion, generosity and solidarity during this difficult time. Your support means the world to us and the Zhinin family as they mourn Jael’s death and support Leslie’s recovery.”

According to Transportation Alternatives, Jael was the tenth child fatality on the streets of Queens in the last 18 months.

“Today, a family should be celebrating the first day of summer with their two children. Instead, they are mourning the loss of a daughter while another is in critical condition in the hospital,” Elizabeth Adams, TA’s assistant executive director of public affairs, said in a statement. “Yesterday, as the newly minted middle school girls were leaving IS 125, they saw their neighbor die right outside the school’s door. They watched as the girl’s mother held her daughter in her arms in her final minutes.”

Courtesy of Transportation Alternatives

She pointed out that 47th Avenue is a Vision Zero priority corridor – one of the most dangerous streets in the city.

“New York City has failed to protect these children,” Adams said. “The streets in front of schools can and should be closed to car traffic — especially when entering and exiting schools when those streets are particularly dangerous — but 47th Avenue is not. There was not even a school crossing guard on duty on a street that the city knows is dangerous.”

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