Police said drivers left after Kianna Underwood was fatally hit
My Baby
Police said two drivers left after a Jan. 16 crash at Pitkin Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard that city records say killed a 33-year-old pedestrian, later identified as Kianna Underwood.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Kianna Underwood, 33, a former Nickelodeon child actor, was crossing Pitkin Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard on Jan. 16 when police said a driver in a black Ford Explorer moved across the double yellow line to pass another vehicle and hit her. Police said a second driver in a black-and-gray sedan then hit her and left, and video showed her body was dragged nearly two blocks before she was found near Pitkin Avenue and Osborn Street. City crash data records one pedestrian death and lists an SUV traveling west. Police seized the Ford Explorer for forensic examination and continued to seek the sedan driver; no arrests had been reported in the reviewed coverage.
Police later described a two-driver sequence
Early reports described one hit-and-run driver, but later NYPD accounts said two drivers hit Underwood. Police said the first driver, in a black 2021 Ford Explorer, crossed the double yellow line while passing another vehicle on westbound Pitkin Avenue, hit her at Mother Gaston Boulevard, and left. Police said a second driver, in a black-and-gray sedan, then hit her and left as her body was dragged toward Pitkin Avenue and Osborn Street.
The fatal crash began at a Brownsville intersection
The city crash record places the fatal crash at Pitkin Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard in Brooklyn at 6:43 a.m. News reports said Underwood was later found near Pitkin Avenue and Osborn Street after being dragged nearly two blocks; some early Post accounts instead placed the crossing at Watkins Street and Pitkin Avenue.
Kianna Underwood was remembered as an actor and neighbor
Underwood was 33 and had appeared on Nickelodeon's All That and voiced a character on Little Bill. CBS reported that residents said she lived in the neighborhood, and nearby store supervisor Andy Sierra said, "No human being deserves to die like that."
Investigators focused on the first driver's lane movement
The city crash record lists Traffic Control Disregarded as a contributing factor for the SUV. Later police accounts said the Ford driver moved across the double yellow line to pass a vehicle that was turning, then hit Underwood.
Police seized the Ford Explorer and continued the search
CBS reported that police seized the Ford Explorer for forensic examination and said its owner was not under arrest at that time. Two days later, the Daily News reported that Michael Griffiths, 71, said he had been driving the Ford, pulled over after the crash and tried to flag down the second driver; the article said he had not been charged. Police were still seeking the sedan driver in the reviewed reports.