Driver Charged in Coney Island Crash That Killed Tamika Richards
At 8:49 p.m. on March 3, 2023, a driver in a westbound pickup hit 41-year-old Tamika Richards as she crossed with the signal at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street, and police later arrested Mitchell Maldonado in the hit-and-run.
What We Know
Tamika Richards, 41, was crossing Mermaid Avenue at West 24th Street with the signal on March 3, 2023, when a driver in a westbound pickup hit her and another pedestrian. Police and news reports said the driver continued west after the crash. The Daily News identified the injured pedestrian as Richards' 18-year-old son, Rayquan Parker, and reported that family members said Richards moved in front of him as the pickup approached. In November 2024, police said they arrested Mitchell Maldonado of Burlington, Vermont, on charges including leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failure to yield to a pedestrian.
Richards was crossing with the signal
The crash record places the fatal crash at 8:49 p.m. at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street. It says Tamika Richards, a 41-year-old pedestrian, was at the intersection and crossing with the signal when a driver in a pickup traveling west and going straight ahead hit her. The record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor.
Police told news outlets that the pickup was red and that the driver kept going west on Mermaid Avenue after hitting Richards and an 18-year-old man. Richards was taken to Coney Island Hospital, where authorities pronounced her dead; the injured man was taken to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn.
Family described a mother protecting her son
The Daily News identified the injured pedestrian as Rayquan Parker, Richards' 18-year-old son, and described Richards as a single mother of six. Family friend Zemaya Williams told the paper, "When she saw the truck coming, she positioned herself in front of him to protect him."
After Mitchell Maldonado's arrest, Richards' oldest son, Mart Richards, told the Daily News the news felt like "an exhale." The paper reported that Rayquan Parker suffered serious pelvic injuries.
Mermaid Avenue has seen repeated harm
The crash happened at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street in Coney Island. Along Mermaid Avenue in Brooklyn, CrashCountNYC records 278 crashes, 140 injuries, 6 serious injuries and 1 death since 2022.
An arrest came more than a year later
In November 2024, the Daily News reported that NYPD officials said they had arrested Mitchell Maldonado, 33, of Burlington, Vermont. The paper reported that Maldonado faced charges including leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failure to yield to a pedestrian.