Prayer vigil held for victims of deadly 4th of July Lower East Side crash

LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- A community on the Lower East Side came together for a prayer vigil to remember the victims of the fatal pedestrian crash that happened on the evening of the Fourth of July.

Friends, family and neighbors came out to Corlears Hook Park, located at Water and Jackson Street, to remember those who lost their lives tragically and to pray for the victims who were injured and remain in the hospital.

“We were out there like anyone else having a good time,” recalled Jessica Pellot, “and then in the blink of an eye, everything changed, not just for me but for everyone in the community.”

The driver of a Ford F-150 truck was traveling north on Water Street at a high-rate speed, blew through a stop sign and plowed onto a busy sidewalk, killing three people and injuring 11 others, according to officials.

Haneefah Hasan is the niece of one of the victims.

“She had a whole lot of love to give. She never had any conflict. She was always a good person,” Hasan said.

The three victims killed were 59-year-old Lucille Pinkney, her son, 38-year-old Herman Pinkney and 43-year-old Ana Morel.

“I just want to make my mom proud and my brother proud,” said Diamond Pinkney, who lost both his mom and his brother in the fatal crash. “My brother went out as a hero to me and my mom. I want everybody to know that he defended us and fought for us.”

The driver, identified as 44-year-old Daniel Hyden, was driving under the influence of alcohol, police said. He faces charges of vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. 

Herman Gibson is the father of Herman Pinkney. He had traveled all the way from Virginia to spend the Fourth of July with his son.

“I always wanted to have a son to be named after me and looked like me and I had that, and I lost it, I lost him,” Gibson said.

Local community members want the park to be renamed after Herman Pinkney. They said he was known to hold that annual Fourth of July BBQ, and they think it would be a good way to honor his memory.