Driver indicted after fatal Bed-Stuy hit-and-run
After the Concert
Prosecutors say Chaquasia Pigford struck and dragged 32-year-old Tiffany Cifuni near Van Buren Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Brooklyn; the official record lists one pedestrian killed in the crash at 11:55 p.m. May 24, 2025.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Prosecutors allege that Chaquasia Pigford rear-ended Tiffany Cifuni's Toyota, then accelerated into her as she stood near the vehicles and dragged her before fleeing on foot. Cifuni, 32, was pregnant and expecting her first child with her husband, James, her family told ABC7. Accounts differ about the first collision's location and the route afterward: the Brooklyn district attorney placed the initial impact near Van Buren Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard and said Cifuni was dragged north on Marcus Garvey; a later report of prosecutors' account put the first impact on Lewis Avenue, while early reports described the driver going the wrong way on Lafayette Avenue. The official record places the crash at Van Buren Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard at 11:55 p.m. May 24, 2025, and records one pedestrian killed. Pigford was arrested and later indicted on murder and other charges and ordered
Accounts describe different parts of the route.
The Brooklyn district attorney's account says Pigford was driving a stolen red Chevrolet Trax when she rear-ended Cifuni's 2021 Toyota 4Runner. Prosecutors say Cifuni got out to speak with the other driver, who accelerated as Cifuni stood in front of the Chevy, then dragged her nearly half a block north on Marcus Garvey Boulevard.
Other accounts differ on the later path. ABC7 said the driver went the wrong way up Marcus Garvey Boulevard, then continued into oncoming traffic on Lafayette Avenue. Gothamist's early police account placed the striking at Lafayette Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.
The official record places the crash at a Brooklyn intersection.
The official record lists the crash at Van Buren Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Brooklyn at 11:55 p.m. on May 24, 2025. Reports place other parts of the sequence on nearby streets: the district attorney's account locates the initial collision near this intersection, while a later account of prosecutors' statements places it on Lewis Avenue. Early reports also describe a route onto one-way Lafayette Avenue, underscoring that accounts differ about where events occurred and how the driver traveled.
Reports identify the cars but vary in terminology.
The district attorney's account identifies Cifuni's vehicle as a 2021 Toyota 4Runner and says Pigford allegedly drove a stolen red 2016 Chevrolet Trax. An early Daily News report also described the fleeing vehicle as an SUV; later prosecutor accounts identified it as a Chevrolet Trax.
Cifuni's family remembered her and the child they expected.
Cifuni, 32, was returning from a Beyoncé concert, her family told ABC7. Her in-laws said she was in her first trimester and that she and her husband, James, were expecting their first child.
Her mother-in-law, Barbara, remembered her as loving, caring, patient and an animal lover. Her father-in-law, Nick, called her “the rockstar of our family” and said the family wanted justice.
Pigford was arrested and indicted.
Police arrested Pigford, 28, on June 18, 2025. The Brooklyn district attorney later reported that an indictment charged her with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree reckless endangerment and leaving the scene without reporting, among other counts. Justice Dena Douglas ordered her held without bail. The indictment contains allegations, not a finding of guilt.