Pregnant Mother Struck By Car, Killed On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A pregnant woman was struck and killed by a car on Staten Island just hours after another pedestrian was killed in an unrelated crash on the same street.
Co-workers at Mike's Place Restaurant and Diner said it all happened within a matter of moments. Waitress Shannon Lies, 31, had just clocked out and was rushing to catch a bus to get home to her two little girls, but she would never make it.
"Ten seconds later I see everybody around out on the street and the tragedy had just happened," diner manager Chris Egerci told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "I ran over there and it was already too late."
Lies, who was six months pregnant with her first son, was hit by a car around 11 p.m. Monday as she crossed Hylan Boulevard in the middle of the block near Arden Avenue in the Annadale section.
Investigators said the driver of the car kept going another block before turning around after realizing what happened.
Meanwhile, Lies's coworkers ran into the street, trying to save her.
"I saw her laying down and just very, very devastating picture to see," said Egerci. "The ambulance arrived two minutes later, but they told us she had no pulse and it was too late. We're heartbroken."
Lies was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Egerci was one of the last to talk with the young mom.
"She was very excited at the fact that it was a boy since she had two girls," he said. "We're still in disbelief that this actually happened right in front of the diner where she worked."
To get across the stretch of Hylan Boulevard where the accident happened, you have to cross four lanes of traffic. People who live and work around the diner said cars are known to speed in the area and that it is often poorly lit.
"It's dark, no lights -- it's been dark for a while over here," said diner customer Sal Piro. "They wait till somebody gets killed and they want to do something about it."
Tuesday morning, CBS2 saw Con Edison crews making repairs near the intersection.
"This is a national speedway, especially late at night," Piro said. "Nice personality, beautiful person. Is this the way to end it?"
Lies is the second person to die while trying to cross Hylan Boulevard within a four-hour period Monday night.
Around 7:30 p.m., police said 61-year-old Steven Turetsky was struck and killed at the intersection of Bay Street in the community of Rosebank.
Police said Turetsky was crossing at the intersection outside of the crosswalk when he was hit by a 2008 Honda Fit. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The driver remained on the scene.
In a tweet, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was "Deeply pained by the loss of life in crashes on Hylan Blvd."
In a second tweet, he said he has instructed the NYPD to increase enforcement and the Department of Transportation "to pursue safety fixes to the corridor."
Police said neither driver has been ticketed and they are looking into whether speed played a factor in either case.
Investigations into both accidents are ongoing.
