Yeshiva School Teacher Killed In Brooklyn Crash

NEW YORK (CBS 2/ 1010 WINS) -- A 23-year-old man is facing charges after police said he was driving drunk and speeding when he killed a popular Brooklyn teacher.

He was 25 and very much admired but on Tuesday night Moshe Berkowitz was being mourned following his shocking death on Monday.

"Nobody deserves to die this way," Yisreol Weiss told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.

Weiss was Berkowitz's best friend.

"This was a 25-year-old healthy, young adult who had such a promising life ahead of him, but it was taken out because of somebody's stupidity," Weiss said.

1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports

Police said Anel Kolenovic was intoxicated when his Volkswagen T-boned Berkowitz's car on Ocean Avenue near Avenue N at around 11:40 p.m. The crash happened steps away from a volunteer ambulance service. But given the injuries to Berkowitz, there was little they could do to save his life.

At the Hebrew school where Berkowitz worked, students were at a loss.

"He was the nicest teacher I ever had. He took me places," student Naftali Friedler said.

And they learned a cruel lesson about the fragility and unfairness of life.

"You can't control … you can be the safest driver, you can't control the road," student Itzhak Stark said.

It's a lesson that's been told before.

"This should serve as a lesson to people who decide to drink and get behind the wheel, that at the end of the day someone innocent dies because of this," Weiss said.

On Tuesday night the role model's mother was scheduled to arrive from Israel. On Wednesday she'll help lay her son to rest.