Moped rider charged after 68-year-old pedestrian dies in Queens
Police and city data say a westbound moped rider hit 68-year-old Trevor Lloyd Samuels at 168th Street and 93rd Avenue in Jamaica on Dec. 5, 2025; Samuels died at Jamaica Hospital, and Yunior Buleje Rodriguez was charged.
What We Know
Trevor Lloyd Samuels, 68, was crossing at 168th Street and 93rd Avenue in Jamaica on the evening of Dec. 5, 2025, when a rider on a Zhilong moped hit him. Police accounts cited by local outlets said Samuels was in a marked crosswalk; the city crash record says the pedestrian action was crossing against the signal. Samuels suffered severe head trauma and died at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The rider, Yunior Buleje Rodriguez, remained at the scene, was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in stable condition, and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The official crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor, and the vehicle record also lists unsafe speed.
What happened at 168th Street and 93rd Avenue
The crash was recorded at 6:36 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2025, at 168th Street and 93rd Avenue in Queens. City data records one pedestrian death and one motorist injury.
Police said Trevor Lloyd Samuels was walking across 93rd Avenue in the crosswalk when Yunior Buleje Rodriguez, riding a 2025 Zhilong Q-Max moped westbound on 93rd Avenue, hit him. Samuels was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Trevor Lloyd Samuels was preparing to visit Jamaica
News reports identified the pedestrian as Trevor Lloyd Samuels, 68, a Springfield Gardens grandfather and former correction officer. Family members told reporters he had been shopping for gifts before a planned trip to his native Jamaica.
His daughter Kievette Samuels told CBS New York that her family was broken before the holidays and was trying to raise money to bring his body back to Jamaica so his other children could say goodbye.
The rider stayed at the scene and was charged
Police said Rodriguez, 26, remained at the scene after the crash. QNS reported that he was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in stable condition.
Police said Rodriguez was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The Queens District Attorney’s office said he received a desk appearance ticket returnable on Dec. 23.
Records and reports describe the movement differently
The official crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor for the crash, and the vehicle record lists unsafe speed as an additional factor for the motorcycle. The same city person record says Samuels was crossing against the signal, while police accounts in local coverage said he was in the crosswalk.
Most reviewed New York reports described the rider as traveling westbound on 93rd Avenue. The Jamaica Gleaner reported that the moped was traveling the wrong way, a detail that does not appear in the official crash record or in the NYPD-based local accounts reviewed here.
A Jamaica intersection on a crash-heavy Queens corridor
The fatal crash happened at 168th Street and 93rd Avenue in Jamaica, near the Home Depot, according to police coverage and the city crash record.
CrashCountNYC location data for 168th Street in Queens shows 439 crashes, 261 injuries, 14 serious injuries and 2 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.