Driver indicted in fatal Queens hit-and-run of 5-year-old
Coming Home from the Park
Prosecutors allege Xavier Carchipulla struck 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez and left the scene; the official record lists one pedestrian death at 5:28 p.m. on September 1, 2022, at 100th Street and McIntosh Street in Queens.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Prosecutors allege Xavier Carchipulla struck 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez while the boy was beside his father and siblings near 100th Street and McIntosh Street in East Elmhurst, then left without stopping. The official record places the crash at 5:28 p.m. on September 1, 2022, and records one pedestrian death. News accounts differ on which street Carchipulla traveled and turned onto. Jonathan was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he later died. Police arrested Carchipulla on September 21; he was later indicted on charges including criminally negligent homicide. A fundraiser organized by a family friend said Jonathan loved singing, dancing and Spider-Man.
Accounts differ about the turn.
The official crash record places the collision at 5:28 p.m. on September 1, 2022, at 100th Street and McIntosh Street in Queens, and records one pedestrian death.
In its account of the charges, QNS reported that prosecutors alleged Xavier Carchipulla, 40, was driving a white 2018 Dodge Ram pickup when he struck 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez, who was beside his father and siblings as they attempted to cross. QNS reported that Carchipulla left without stopping. Jonathan was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Reports describe the route differently. The official record logs southbound travel and a left turn. QNS's account of the indictment says Carchipulla traveled north on McIntosh Street before turning south onto 100th Street. The Daily News first reported a left turn onto McIntosh Street; its later arrest account placed Carchipulla on 100th Street as Jonathan crossed McIntosh Street.
A recently repaved intersection near a school.
QNS placed the crash at 100th and McIntosh streets in East Elmhurst, near Helen Marshall Playground and P.S. 127 Aerospace Science Magnet School. It reported that McIntosh Street had recently been repaved without center-line or crosswalk markings.
ABC7 described a curve in the street grid where the turn from McIntosh onto 100th Street is almost a U-turn.
Reports give different levels of detail about the pickup.
The official record lists a pickup truck. QNS described a white 2018 Dodge Ram pickup; Streetsblog identified the truck as a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500.
Jonathan's family and community remembered him.
A fundraiser organized by a family friend described Jonathan as “the sweetest and brightest boy” and said he loved singing, dancing, worship, Spider-Man and car toys. It said his best friends were his siblings and that his family, friends and church would miss him.
His father, Richard Martinez, remembered Jonathan as a “very happy child” who “loved God.”
Carchipulla was arrested and later indicted.
Police arrested Carchipulla on September 21, 2022. QNS reported that a grand jury later indicted him on seven counts, including criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting a death; he was arraigned on October 20.
After the arrest, Jonathan's mother, Jennifer Erez, told the Daily News, “We just want justice. We've been praying for this moment.”