Roosevelt Rose was convicted after a fatal Mother's Day hit-and-run.
Roosevelt Rose was convicted of murder by a Queens jury after a hit-and-run killed Florence Ngwu on 120th Avenue in South Jamaica; city records list the crash at 8:33 a.m. on May 8, 2022.
Reported intersection.
What We Know
According to the Queens district attorney's account of trial testimony, Roosevelt Rose was attempting a three-point turn in a white 2019 Ford F-550 when he hit a parked BMW and later drove a parked Chevrolet Equinox into Florence Ngwu and two others. An earlier indictment account described the group standing beside the SUV when it was hit, differing on their position and the sequence. Ngwu was pinned between parked cars and died at a hospital the next day; a Queens jury later convicted Rose of murder and other crimes.
Accounts differ on the moments before Ngwu was pinned.
The Queens district attorney's account of trial testimony says Rose tried to turn around outside Ngwu's home and hit a BMW belonging to her daughter. Ngwu and her daughter came outside and called police. Rose hit the BMW again and ignored bystanders shouting for him to stop.
In the DA's trial account, Rose then accelerated, hit a parked Chevrolet Equinox and dragged it almost 15 feet. Ngwu, her daughter and a neighbor were walking away when he drove the Equinox into them. Ngwu was pinned between the Equinox and another parked car, and Rose drove away.
The DA's earlier indictment account describes a different sequence: it says the three people were standing beside a parked SUV when Rose hit it, knocking them down, and that Ngwu fell behind another parked vehicle and was pinned as he drove away.
The crash happened on a narrow South Jamaica dead-end street.
The official record places the crash on 120 Avenue. The Queens district attorney describes 120th Avenue in South Jamaica as a dead-end street and says the crash happened outside Ngwu's home.
Family remembered Ngwu as a strong and caring mother.
Ngwu, 49, immigrated from Nigeria and worked as a nursing aide, her family told NY1. She had four children. The DA's trial account says she was taken to a hospital and died the next day.
Her daughter, Princess Ngwu, said she wanted her mother remembered “as the strong woman she was.” Her niece Nnenna B told CBS News, “A very caring, very loving woman. Wonderful mom, has helped taken care of me as well too.”
Reports describe the Ford's subtype differently.
The Queens district attorney's accounts identify Rose's vehicle as a white 2019 Ford F-550 truck; NY1 calls it a landscape truck. The official crash record classifies a 2019 Ford involved in the collision as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle. These descriptions differ, so the sources' distinct terms are preserved.
A Queens jury convicted Rose of murder and other crimes.
The Queens district attorney said a jury convicted Rose of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting.