Drivers collide on Hylan Boulevard; three teen passengers die
The following week
After a 16-year-old Mustang driver and a GMC Yukon driver collided at Hylan Boulevard and Richard Avenue, NYPD recorded three motorists killed and six injured; police identified the dead as Fernanda Gil, Jesie Gil and Ashley Rodriguez.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
On July 10, 2022, a 16-year-old driving a Ford Mustang and a driver in a GMC Yukon collided at Hylan Boulevard and Richard Avenue on Staten Island. The city crash record lists unsafe speed and failure to yield as contributing factors, with three motorists killed and six injured. Police identified the passengers who died as Fernanda Gil, Jesie Gil and Ashley Rodriguez. Reporters described a left-turn crash, but accounts disagreed on the Mustang's direction of travel. The Yukon driver, Maher Asi-Mahmoud, was charged with license-related offenses, and police later charged the teen Mustang driver with manslaughter and related counts after an investigation.
Police described a left-turn collision on Hylan Boulevard
The crash happened at about 8:47 p.m. at Hylan Boulevard and Richard Avenue. The official record lists a sedan and an SUV, three motorists killed, six motorists injured, and contributing factors of unsafe speed and failure to yield right of way.
Police and news accounts described a 16-year-old driving a Ford Mustang and a driver in a GMC Yukon colliding as the Yukon driver made a left turn. Reports disagreed on direction: the official record and several articles placed the Mustang eastbound and the Yukon westbound, while other accounts reversed those directions.
Three teenage passengers died
Police identified the passengers who died as Fernanda Gil, 16; Jesie Gil, 15; and Ashley Rodriguez, 15. The official record lists two 15-year-old passengers and one 16-year-old passenger killed, while one Fox5 account gave Rodriguez's age as 16.
The 16-year-old Mustang driver survived and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The Yukon driver and four passengers were also taken to Staten Island University Hospital North with minor injuries, according to police accounts.
Families and friends mourned the victims
The Daily News and Post reported that Fernanda and Jesie Gil were siblings. The Post quoted their uncle, Juan Sanchez, saying, "It's like a nightmare." A friend told ABC7 that she and Fernanda Gil had been close since they were 4 years old.
Both drivers later faced charges
ABC7 reported that Maher Asi-Mahmoud, the 47-year-old Yukon driver, was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and operation of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver.
In April 2023, police arrested the teen Mustang driver, then 17, after what they called an extensive investigation. The Post reported that he faced manslaughter, reckless endangerment and related injury charges.
The crash intensified scrutiny of a South Shore corridor
City transportation officials said after the crash that they would move ahead with changes to a 1.2-mile stretch of Hylan Boulevard between Satterlee Street and Page Avenue, including fewer travel lanes, new bike lanes and left-turn lanes. The Daily News reported that the crash location was a block east of the planned redesign area.
Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said the safety plan had been in development for months, while Community Board 3 leaders objected to reducing car space. DOT officials also said they would explore additional changes at the intersection where the crash happened.