EAST ELMHURST, Queens (PIX11) – An 8-year-old boy who was hit and killed by a truck in Queens Wednesday is being remembered for his “happy and cheerful” personality.
Bayron Palomino, 8, was killed when a pickup truck drove through an intersection at 31st Avenue and 100th Street in East Elmhurst and hit him and his brother as they crossed the street, according to police.
Bayron died at the scene. His brother, 10-year-old Bradley Palomino, suffered a wrist injury, authorities said.
“We were just going to cross the street, but then the car was turning and then it hit me and my brother,” Bradley Palomino said.
Bradley Palomino visited a memorial for his brother at the scene of his crash on Thursday. A photo of Bayron, flowers and other mementos were placed at the memorial. A vigil is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The boys were walking with their mother when they got hit. She was not injured, but as the boys’ sister pointed out, their mother and the whole family are all in deep emotional pain.
"She’s very devastated right now. Bayron was so young. He was always happy and cheerful,” said Sherlyn Palomino, the sister of the boys' mother.
Bradley Palomino was going to turn 9 years old in a few weeks.
"We already had his gift for his birthday," Sherlyn Palomino said.
The alleged driver of the pickup truck, 52-year-old Jose Barcia, was later arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide, failure to yield to a pedestrian, failure to exercise due care, and excessive speeding, police said.
Advocates for pedestrian safety are speaking out in the wake of Bradley Palomino’s death. They said that his unnecessary death is part of a larger, disturbing trend that needs to be reversed.
The fatal crash came a day after a woman was struck and killed by a New York City Department of Environmental Protection truck in Elmhurst, Queens, and then, on Thursday, a jogger was killed when an SUV hit her as she crossed a street in Bayside, Queens.
Street safety advocates say that since the Vision Zero street safety program began 10 years ago, the city has averaged 41 pedestrian deaths in traffic by this time of the year. This year, though, it’s higher — 52 people have been killed and more injured.
"We're not doing enough. We're not rolling out ambitious street redesigns fast enough," said Laura Shepard with Transportation Alternatives. “Dedicated bike lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian space improvements."
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