Father: Driver of car that fled Brooklyn scene of daughter's death a 'coward'
EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A family is in mourning and police are looking for a suspected drunk driver after a deadly two-car crash in Brooklyn over the weekend.
The accident happened early Sunday morning at East 55th and Foster Avenue in East Flatbush and claimed the life of 23-year-old Joanna Dixon.
Authorities say a black Mazda SUV that ran a stop sign was T-boned by a high-end Nissan GTR driven by 47-year-old off-duty NYPD Officer Rohan Shaw.
The driver of the Mazda SUV fled the scene, leaving his two passengers, Dixon and a 22-year-old woman who is hospitalized with serious injuries.
Both Shaw and the Mazda driver are suspected of being intoxicated. Prosecutors had previously announced charges of vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, a speed violation and driving while ability impaired against the officer, but the process is on hold pending the investigation.
He has been released, but he could face charges at a later date, officials said.
Dixon was out celebrating her birthday, and her father is distraught.
"Pain, pain," dad Collin Dixon said. "I wish she were here, but we'll get through it."
He's still processing the sudden and tragic death of his daughter.
"So she was celebrating with her friends," he said. "Her stop was going to be the last stop."
But the York College student never made it home.
Joanna's father called the driver of the Mazda a "coward."
"I don't know him," he said. "I don't know what is going through his head. Just got frightened and scared and just took off."
He also had a message for the officer.
"You're still alive and my daughter's dead, and we can't bring her back," he said. "And it's painful, really painful. But God will see us through. I trust God and he will see us through."
Friends and family left candles and flowers at the scene to remember her.
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