Sanitation truck driver fatally hit teen in Woodside crosswalk
A 19-year-old pedestrian was killed at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street, where police later said Royal Waste driver Mayra Cruz hit Nishath Jannath as she crossed 62nd Street.
What We Know
Nishath Jannath, 19, was killed near Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Woodside just before midnight on March 29, 2026. The city crash record lists one pedestrian death involving a dump truck. News accounts citing police said a Royal Waste private sanitation truck driver hit Jannath as she crossed 62nd Street; several reports described her as being in a crosswalk while the driver turned from Roosevelt Avenue. More than nine weeks later, police arrested Mayra Cruz and charged her with failure to yield to a pedestrian resulting in injury and failure to use due care resulting in serious injury.
Police described a late-night turn at Roosevelt Avenue
The crash happened at about 11:55 p.m. on March 29, 2026. The city record reports one pedestrian killed and no other injuries at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens.
Gothamist and the Daily News, citing police, reported that Nishath Jannath was crossing 62nd Street when a Royal Waste private sanitation truck driver hit her while turning from Roosevelt Avenue. EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.
Records and reports differ on the crossing details
The city person record describes the pedestrian location as away from an intersection, while multiple news reports citing police said Jannath was crossing in a crosswalk at 62nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
Nishath Jannath was near home after work
Police and news reports identified the pedestrian as 19-year-old Nishath Jannath of Woodside. Gothamist reported she lived about a 10-minute walk from the crash site; the Daily News described the scene as about a half-mile from her home.
Family members told the Daily News she had stopped to buy a birthday cake for her little sister after a part-time shift at a Jamaica parking garage and was a City College student. Friends and relatives gathered for her funeral at Baitul Jannah Masjid.
The truck was operated by Royal Waste
The city record lists the involved vehicle as a 2025 dump truck with one occupant and a licensed New York driver. News reports described it as a Royal Waste Services private sanitation or garbage truck.
The official record says the driver was traveling north and going straight before the crash. Several news accounts citing police instead said the driver was turning from Roosevelt Avenue onto 62nd Street.
Police later arrested the driver
Initial reports said the driver remained at the scene and police made no immediate arrests. The New York Post reported that the driver was treated for minor injuries and that the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
QNS later reported that police arrested Mayra Cruz, 39, on June 3, more than nine weeks after the crash. The report said police charged her with failure to yield to a pedestrian resulting in injury and failure to use due care resulting in serious injury, and issued a desk appearance ticket returnable on June 23.
Roosevelt Avenue has seen repeated severe crashes
The crash site is at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens, along the Roosevelt Avenue corridor.
CrashCountNYC’s location analysis for Roosevelt Avenue in Queens recorded 1,834 crashes, 1,043 injuries, 58 serious injuries and 7 deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.