A driver faces murder charges for allegedly intentionally striking a 16-year-old on Roosevelt Avenue. Plus more news.
12:01 AM EDT on September 15, 2025
In what is possibly the most horrifying crash in a year of horrifying crashes, 38-year-old Edwin Cruz-Gomez allegedly purposefully struck and killed 16-year-old Jhoanny Gomez-Alvarez in Jackson Heights after an argument over what some reports said was "lewd" comment the man made about the teenager.
Cruz-Gomez allegedly cat-called Gomez-Alvarez, which sparked "an argument" with her mother and two others in their party, the Daily News reported.
As group walked away, Cruz-Gomez hopped in his car and aimed his Chevy Suburban for the victim and her family, police said. Cruz-Gomez attempted to flee only to be caught "shortly afterward," the Times said. The incident occurred at around 4:15 a.m. The girl's mother, 32, suffered injuries as well.
"He was driving, then he makes a turn and he hits the girl. He did it on purpose," one witness told the Daily News.
Legally speaking, Cruz-Gomez should not have been behind the wheel — he had a suspended license from a drunk driving charge earlier this year, The Post reported — but the law has no teeth when unlicensed drivers can get into any vehicle and harm innocents. And none of the mounds of coverage so far has called attention to his choice of weapon, or how easy it was for him to access it in defiance of the law.
Cruz-Gomez was charged with murder, attempted murder, driving while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of a crash.
In other news:
David was Streetsblog’s do-it-all New York City beat reporter from 2015 to 2019. He returned as deputy editor in 2023 after a three-year stint at the New York Post.
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