Driver Charged in Coney Island Hit-and-Run That Killed Tamika Richards
At Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street, where the city record says a 41-year-old woman was crossing with the signal, police later said Mitchell Maldonado hit Tamika Richards and her son in a red pickup and left the scene.
What We Know
A westbound pickup driver hit two pedestrians in the crosswalk at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street in Brooklyn. According to the police report, both were crossing with the signal when the driver, recorded as distracted, struck them head-on. A 41-year-old woman died of internal injuries. An 18-year-old man sustained pelvic fractures. The crash happened on a rainy March evening and involved a large pickup truck.
A mother and her son were crossing Mermaid Avenue
The city crash record places the collision at 8:49 p.m. on March 3, 2023, at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street in Brooklyn. It records one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured, and says the 41-year-old woman who died was at the intersection crossing with the signal.
Police told reporters that a driver in a red pickup hit Tamika Richards and an 18-year-old man as they crossed, then continued west on Mermaid Avenue. The Post reported Richards died at Coney Island Hospital and the injured man was taken to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn in stable condition.
Mermaid Avenue has a recent record of injuries
The crash happened at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street in Coney Island. CrashCountNYC's location context for Mermaid Avenue in Brooklyn shows 278 crashes, 140 injuries, six serious injuries and one death from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Richards was identified as a mother who tried to protect her son
The Daily News identified the injured 18-year-old as Rayquan Parker and reported he was Richards' son. Family friend Zemaya Williams said Richards moved in front of him and yelled for the driver to stop before taking most of the impact.
The paper later reported Parker, a John Dewey High School senior at the time, suffered serious pelvic injuries and went to rehabilitation after surgery.
The record points to driver inattention; police later alleged failure to yield
The city record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor and describes a 2016 Chevrolet pickup with one occupant going straight west before impact.
An arrest came after more than a year and a half
Early reports said no one had been arrested. On Nov. 29, 2024, the Daily News reported Maldonado, of Burlington, Vermont, had been arrested, and quoted Richards' oldest son describing the news as an exhale for the family.