Driver charged after child dies in Staten Island crash
At 7:05 a.m. on May 26, 2022, driver Shannon Cocozza was turning left at Scarboro Avenue and Abbott Street on Staten Island when she hit a mother and her daughter crossing in a marked crosswalk, killing the child and injuring her mother, according to police accounts and the official crash record.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police said Shannon Cocozza was turning left from Scarboro Avenue onto Abbott Street when she hit a mother and her daughter as they crossed. The child died at a hospital, and her mother was reported in stable condition. Cocozza remained at the scene and was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.
Police described a left turn across the crossing.
Police said Cocozza, 40, was turning left from Scarboro Avenue onto Abbott Street when she hit the mother and child as they crossed. The official record places the child in a marked crosswalk.
NY1 reported that police described Cocozza as traveling north on Scarboro Avenue. The official vehicle record lists the vehicle's travel direction as east; the sources do not reconcile the difference.
Reports describe the vehicle in different terms.
Gothamist and NY1 identified the vehicle as a Jeep Cherokee. The official crash record categorizes it as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle.
Reports differ on the child's name and age.
Gothamist identified the child as Lian Mashini, age 1. El Diario identified her as Lian Mashni, age 20 months. NY1 reported that she was 1 and did not release her name; the official crash record lists the pedestrian fatality as age 1.
NY1 and El Diario reported that the mother was 31 and in stable condition. El Diario said she had injuries to her legs.
Police arrested and charged Cocozza.
Gothamist reported that Cocozza remained at the scene and that surveillance footage showed her getting out of the vehicle and approaching the mother and child. Gothamist reported charges of failure to yield and failure to exercise due care; NY1 described the first charge as failure to yield to a pedestrian. NY1 said the investigation was ongoing.
Where
SCARBORO AVENUE and ABBOTT STREET