Driver Facing Slew Of Charges After 6-Year-Old Tamy Quema Guachiac Struck And Killed Crossing Brooklyn Street
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 6-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car Tuesday night just steps away from her Brooklyn home.
Now, the driver is facing more than half a dozen charges.
"I heard the screaming. I heard the mother screaming. I live right here," one neighbor said.
Speaking to CBS2's Alice Gainer near a growing memorial for 6-year-old Tamy Quema Guachiac, neighbors described hearing the mother's anguish and expressed their devastation.
"It's very sad. It took me very hard. I couldn't sleep all night," one person said.
"What a tragedy," said another.
A nurse who did not want to appear on camera told Gainer there she was in the area in Dyker Heights for work, saw the scene, and the little girl covered in blood.
She began CPR before an ambulance arrived, but sadly the child did not make it.
Police say around 8 p.m., a 30-year-old SUV driver was traveling south on 12th Avenue when he crossed over the solid double yellow pavement markings and traveled into oncoming traffic.
As the SUV continued south in the northbound lane, it made a left turn at the intersection of 67th Street, hitting the 6-year-old girl, who was walking in the crosswalk with the pedestrian signal in her favor.
Police said the driver kept going but returned to the scene after traveling around the block.
READ MORE: Family, Neighbors Gather In Brooklyn To Honor 6-Year-Old Who Was Struck, Killed By Vehicle
He has since been arrested and identified as 30-year-old Qiuhua Zhu and charged with nine offenses, among them manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, failure to yield to a pedestrian and driving the wrong direction on a one way street.
"I feel horrible that another family is suffering. And so much of this comes down to changing the whole mindset around cars," Mayor Bill de Blasio said about the crash Wednesday. "This is what we've been doing for eight years with Vision Zero. We all have to do a lot more. People need to use the cars less. People need to drive more carefully."
Though the driver is in custody, neighbors say that's of little consolation.
"Kids shouldn't die. Parents shouldn't bury their kids," said one neighbor.
Zhu was expected to be arraigned on nine charges later Wednesday.
