Former MTA driver charged after fatal Queens crash.
Police say MTA driver Michelle Washington turned left onto southbound Bedell Street and struck Amesha Keys as she crossed Baisley Boulevard in Queens on August 6, 2024; the official crash record lists one pedestrian killed and gives the time as 10:36 p.m.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police said MTA driver Michelle Washington turned left from westbound Baisley Boulevard onto southbound Bedell Street and struck Amesha Keys as she crossed. QNS reported that Washington drove away and that Keys was pronounced dead at a hospital the next day. The MTA later fired Washington, who was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care, but not with leaving the scene.
Police described a left turn and departure.
The NYPD investigation, as reported by QNS, said Washington was driving a QM2 MTA bus west on Baisley Boulevard, turned left onto southbound Bedell Street and struck Keys as she crossed. Police said Washington drove away; ABC7 reported it was unclear whether she knew she had hit someone.
The official record gives the crash time as 10:36 p.m. QNS also reported 10:36 p.m., PIX11 reported about 10:35 p.m., and El Diario reported about 8:35 p.m.
QNS reported that EMS took Keys to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead the next day.
Keys was a mother and Sephora manager.
QNS identified Keys as 31. Her mother, Roberta Keys, told ABC7 that Amesha was returning home from her job as a manager at a Sephora in Manhattan and had just gotten off a bus. ABC7 reported that Keys had an 8-year-old daughter.
"My heart is broken," Roberta Keys said. Her brother, Shamiel Keys, said, "I still can't believe it."
The intersection was under review.
The crash happened at Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street in Jamaica, Queens. QNS reported that the intersection was two blocks from Keys' home.
The city's Department of Transportation told ABC7 it was reviewing the intersection's design. The agency said six pedestrians had suffered minor injuries there in the previous five years and described this as the first incident there involving serious injury and a fatality.
Washington was fired and later charged.
QNS reported that former MTA driver Michelle Washington, 54, was arrested and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care. She was not charged with leaving the scene. The MTA suspended her the day after the crash and later terminated her.
ABC7 reported that Keys' family filed a notice of claim against the city and the MTA. The family's attorney, Nicholas Liakas, said they were investigating whether the intersection's design contributed to the crash.