Hit-and-Run Driver, Second Driver Fatally Injured Queens Pedestrian
At about 8:45 p.m. on April 24, 2025, official records show a 62-year-old pedestrian was killed near 166th Street and Linden Boulevard, and police told reporters a hit-and-run driver first hit Christopher Gayton before a second driver hit him.
What We Know
Christopher Gayton, 62, was crossing Linden Boulevard near 166th Street in South Jamaica at about 8:45 p.m. on April 24, 2025. Police told reporters that an eastbound driver first hit him and left the scene, and that a 49-year-old driver in a 2024 Ford Edge then hit him and remained there. City crash records show one pedestrian was killed and no other injuries were recorded. The official record lists failure to yield and driver inattention or distraction as contributing factors. Gayton was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and died the next day, while police continued searching for the first driver.
Police described two impacts on Linden Boulevard
Police accounts reported by the Daily News and Patch said an eastbound driver hit Christopher Gayton as he crossed Linden Boulevard near 166th Street around 8:45 p.m. and left the scene. A 49-year-old driver in a 2024 Ford Edge then hit Gayton, remained at the scene and had not been charged as of the reports.
The official crash record places the fatal crash at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard in Queens and records one pedestrian killed, with no other injuries recorded.
Christopher Gayton was crossing near his home
The Daily News reported that Gayton was walking with a cane and was just outside his South Jamaica home when the driver hit him. A relative wrote on Facebook that the family had lost a brother, father, son, uncle and cousin, adding that he was just crossing the street to get home.
Records and reports identify the drivers differently
Press accounts described the first driver as operating a black vehicle and said police were still searching for that driver. City records list a 2016 Chrysler sedan and a 2024 Ford SUV, both traveling east with one licensed male driver each; the press accounts identify the second driver as a 49-year-old man in a 2024 Ford Edge.
Gayton died the next day as police investigated
Gayton was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition and died there the next day, according to police accounts reported by Patch and the Daily News. Patch reported that there were no arrests at the time and that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
Where
166th St & Linden Blvd, Queens