Passenger Dies After Driver Runs Red Light on Atlantic Avenue
A crash record lists unsafe speed in a two-sedan crash at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street that killed an 18-year-old passenger, and police accused Kashawn Croswell of speeding through a red light before fleeing.
What We Know
At 3:22 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2023, two sedan drivers crashed at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street in Brooklyn, killing an 18-year-old front-seat passenger and injuring three motorists, according to the city crash record. Police later identified the passenger as Shanti Joyner and said Kashawn Croswell, 25, was driving a Mercedes south on Court Street when he sped through a red light and hit the Honda in which Joyner was riding. Prosecutors pursued charges including second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene. Police also charged the Honda driver, Iesha Joyner, with driving while intoxicated and related offenses.
Police accused a driver of speeding through a red light
The city crash record places the crash at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street in Brooklyn at 3:22 a.m. and lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. It records one person killed and three people injured, all motorists.
Police said Kashawn Croswell was driving a Mercedes south on Court Street when he ran a red light and hit a Honda on Atlantic Avenue. The 18-year-old front passenger in the Honda, later identified as Shanti Joyner, was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where she died.
Reports differed on the injury count
The official crash record counts three injured motorists in addition to Shanti Joyner. News reports citing police said four other people were hurt; their accounts included the two surviving Honda occupants, a Mercedes passenger and, in one report, the Mercedes driver.
The Daily News reported that Shanti Joyner and Iesha Joyner were returning home from late-night shifts at a Brooklyn bar, and identified Iesha Joyner as the Honda driver.
The crash involved two sedans
The official record lists a 2014 Mercedes sedan traveling south and a 2019 Honda sedan traveling west, with both drivers recorded as going straight before impact. News accounts described the Honda as an Accord and the Mercedes as a Mercedes-Benz sedan or S550.
Atlantic Avenue had already drawn safety warnings
Council Member Lincoln Restler called the crash another preventable tragedy on Atlantic Avenue and told Gothamist that the stretch was one of the most dangerous areas in Brooklyn. Gothamist reported that roughly 500 crashes had occurred in the area within five years and that more than 1,000 residents had signed a petition seeking safety changes.
Articles disagreed on a nearby fatality earlier that year: amNY placed Katherine Harris's death one block away at Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street, while Gothamist described it as occurring at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street.