Former MTA Bus Driver Charged After Queens Pedestrian Death
Former MTA bus driver Michelle Washington was charged months after police said she hit 31-year-old Amesha Mishael Keys while turning a bus at Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street, where the city recorded one pedestrian death.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
On Aug. 6, 2024, at 10:36 p.m., a bus driver making a left turn at Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street in Queens hit a 31-year-old woman who was crossing at the intersection; the city record lists failure to yield right of way and one pedestrian death. Police later identified the pedestrian as Amesha Mishael Keys and the driver as former MTA bus operator Michelle Washington. QNS reported Washington was arrested in November and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care, but not leaving the scene. Police said she did not remain at the scene; the MTA said she was suspended after routine drug and alcohol testing and later terminated.
A left turn at the intersection
The city crash record places the collision at 10:36 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2024, at Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street in Queens. It records one pedestrian killed and lists a bus traveling west before the crash and making a left turn.
QNS, citing the NYPD investigation, reported that Michelle Washington was operating a QM2 MTA bus westbound on Baisley Boulevard and turning left onto southbound Bedell Street when she hit Amesha Mishael Keys.
Two blocks from home in St. Albans
Police and local news accounts placed the crash near Baisley Boulevard and Bedell Street in Queens. QNS reported that Keys was hit two blocks from her home, and PIX11, republished by Yahoo, reported that she lived on Baisley Boulevard.
Police said the driver did not remain
Police from the 113th Precinct responded to a 911 call and found Keys unconscious and unresponsive in the roadway, QNS reported. EMS took her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead the next day.
QNS reported that Washington drove away from the scene and was arrested in November. She was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care, but the article said she was not charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
A family remembered Amesha Keys
PIX11, republished by Yahoo, reported that Keys was 31 and that her family described her in a GoFundMe post as a loving mother, daughter, sister and friend. The post said, "Her smile brought comfort and joy to all of those lucky enough to have experienced it."