Driver Charged After Pregnant Pedestrian Killed in Bed-Stuy
A driver fatally injured 32-year-old pedestrian Tiffany Cifuni near Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Van Buren Street late May 24, and prosecutors later charged Chaquasia Pigford with murder and other counts after saying she struck and dragged Cifuni after a fender-bender.
What We Know
A 32-year-old woman was killed while walking on Marcus Garvey Boulevard near Van Buren Street in Brooklyn on a Saturday night. According to the police report, a licensed driver in a 2024 Jeep SUV traveling east hit her while she was outside the intersection, causing fatal crush injuries to her entire body. The crash also involved two parked vehicles.
A late-night fender-bender became a fatal hit-and-run
The city crash record places the fatal crash at Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Van Buren Street in Brooklyn at 11:55 p.m. on May 24, 2025, and records one pedestrian killed: a 32-year-old woman.
ABC7 reported that Tiffany Cifuni had been driving home from a Beyoncé concert when a fender-bender occurred. Prosecutors later said Cifuni followed Chaquasia Pigford for about two blocks, got out at Van Buren Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, and approached Pigford’s vehicle before Pigford accelerated and dragged her.
Tiffany Cifuni was newly pregnant, her family said
ABC7 reported that Cifuni and her husband were expecting their first child and that she was in her first trimester. The New York Post later reported that prosecutors said she was 12 weeks pregnant.
Family members described Cifuni as loving and central to their family, and her father-in-law told reporters after Pigford’s arrest that the family would keep seeking justice for her.
The vehicle descriptions do not fully match across sources
The city crash record lists two SUVs and a sedan as involved, including a 2016 Chevrolet SUV and a 2024 Jeep SUV. ABC7 described Cifuni as driving a dark SUV and trailing a maroon Chevy, while prosecutors told the New York Post that Cifuni had been driving a 2021 Toyota 4Runner and Pigford had been driving a stolen 2016 Chevy Trax.
The crash happened on a corridor with a long record of harm
The fatal crash was recorded at Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Van Buren Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
CrashCountNYC’s Crash Finder counted 503 crashes, 293 injuries, 16 serious injuries and 2 deaths on Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Brooklyn from 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Prosecutors brought murder and hit-and-run charges
The Post reported that Pigford was ordered held without bail at arraignment.