Motorcycle driver loses control on Queens parkway; teen passenger dies before graduation.
A 29-year-old driver lost control of a motorcycle carrying 17-year-old Alyssa Henley on the Cross Island Parkway just after midnight June 19, 2023, according to police accounts reported by the Daily News; Henley died days before her expected graduation, and the official record counts one death and one injury.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A June 19 Daily News report, citing police, said the driver struck a curb and then lost control while trying to exit toward the southbound Whitestone Expressway. A July 2 follow-up described him losing control before striking the curb. Henley was thrown from her seat and died at the scene, according to the June 19 report. The official record reports one death and one injury and lists driver inexperience and unsafe speed as contributing factors.
Reports differ on the order of events.
A June 19 Daily News report, citing police, said the northbound driver was trying to exit toward the southbound Whitestone Expressway when he struck a curb and lost control. A July 2 follow-up described the driver losing control while trying to exit, then striking the curb.
The June 19 report said the motorcycle fell onto its right side, Henley was thrown from her seat and suffered severe head injuries, and she died at the scene. The official record places the crash at 12:01 a.m. on June 19 and records one person killed and one injured.
Henley was days from her expected graduation.
Henley was 17 and expected to graduate from high school that week. Her aunt wrote on GoFundMe, as reported by the Daily News: “Alyssa was such a bright soul with a big future and this is so hard for everyone right now.”
Crystal Moore, whom the Daily News identified as Henley’s mother, said they had planned to shop for a graduation dress. Moore said she later bought the dress and kept it at home.
The record lists speed and inexperience.
The official crash record lists driver inexperience and unsafe speed as contributing factors. The June 19 Daily News report, citing police, described the driver as speeding.
The driver was taken to a hospital.
The June 19 Daily News report said medics took the driver to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens in stable condition and that he was not immediately charged.
Where
CROSS ISLAND PARKWAY