A 73-year-old woman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill last Thursday, police said, becoming the 20th pedestrian to die in a year marked by tragedy.
Kaneez Hussein, 73, of Richmond Hill, was walking in the middle of Jamaica Avenue at 131st Street around 6:30 a.m. when she a Nissan Altima plowed into her, according to the NYPD.
She was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with head trauma and a broken leg and died about three hours after her arrival, police said.
Police said Hussein was seen on video surveillance leaving her house on 129th Street, where she lived with her son, in pajamas and sneakers.
Bladimer Alvarez Sorto, 27, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident and being an unlicensed operator, according to the NYPD.
Hussein’s death comes at a time when city officials are attempting to decrease the number of pedestrian deaths, which have skyrocketed in Queens in recent years. Mayor Bill de Blasio last week detailed his “Vision Zero” plan to reduce pedestrian deaths to zero within a decade through such measures as expanding the use of speed and red light cameras and slashing the citywide speed limit from 30 miles to per hour to 25 mph.
