An Audi driver collided with a Honda in a fatal Staten Island crash.
A 50-year-old Audi driver attempting a left turn from Rockland Avenue onto Forest Hill Road collided with a southbound Honda at 9:57 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2026, on Staten Island; two Honda passengers, Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad, 6, and Gerardo Avila, 90, later died.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A 50-year-old man driving an Audi Q5 attempted a left turn from Rockland Avenue onto Forest Hill Road and collided with a southbound Honda, according to police accounts. Honda passengers Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad, 6, and Gerardo Avila, 90, later died; the official record lists two deaths and two injuries.
Reports describe different versions of the turning sequence.
Later police accounts reported by the Daily News and Gothamist said a 50-year-old man drove an Audi west on Rockland Avenue and attempted a left turn onto Forest Hill Road as a Honda traveled south. Gothamist reported that the Audi crossed in front of the Honda.
An initial Daily News report said one of the cars may have been struck while making a turn into a nearby park, without identifying the car. The official record places the crash at 9:57 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2026, at Forest Hill Road and Rockland Avenue, and records two people killed and two injured.
Both people who died were passengers in the Honda.
Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad, 6, and Gerardo Avila, 90, were passengers in the Honda. The New York Post reported that emergency responders took them and the 70-year-old Honda driver to Staten Island University North Campus. Avila died at the hospital; Anheli died Sunday from her injuries. The Honda driver was reported in critical but stable condition, and the 50-year-old Audi driver was reported in stable condition.
El Diario reported that Avila and his wife, Perla, were caring for Anheli and were taking Avila to a chemotherapy appointment. Diario Libre described Anheli as traveling with her grandparents for his chemotherapy appointment. Diario Libre also said a fundraiser remembered Anheli as affectionate, cheerful, playful and deeply loved.
Reports differ on the Honda model.
The Daily News initially described the Honda as an SUV; its later report and the New York Post identified it as an HR-V. Reports identified the other vehicle as an Audi Q5. The official record classifies both vehicles as station wagon/SUV and lists them as a 2019 Honda and a 2023 Audi.
Police continued investigating.
Gothamist reported that no arrests had been made as of Jan. 4 and that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was investigating. The New York Post reported that a fundraiser was raising money for Anheli's funeral expenses.
Where
FOREST HILL RD and ROCKLAND AVE