Brooklyn community mourns 6-year-old killed by wrong-way driver, demands change
DYKER HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A vigil was held to remember a 6-year-old girl killed by a driver going the wrong way on a street in Brooklyn.
Residents of Dyker Heights showed up Thursday night and said they are fed up with out-of-control drivers threatening the safety of people who live there.
It is a crushing pain that would bring any mother to her knees - one last kiss goodbye.
Tamy Quema Guachiac, 6, was walking home from the park with her mother on Tuesday night when police say a 30-year-old driver of an SUV struck and killed her. Guachiac was just steps from her home.
The driver was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, and driving the wrong way.
"Every child has the right in their own community to walk free and enjoy the summer," said Reverend Erick Salgado.
"It doesn't matter what language you speak. It doesn't matter what country you came from. The cry of a mother losing a baby is something that resonates through every family," added Democratic Mayoral Nominee Eric Adams.
According to the NYPD, across the city, there has been a rise in pedestrian fatalities - 78 so far this year.
"We're on track to be the worst year for traffic deaths since 2014. And right on this stretch of real estate - 12th Avenue in Dyker Heights where we're standing right now, 30 crashes in 2020 injuring nine people," said Adams.
A nurse came to Guachiac's aide that day. As the 6-year-old's mother was clutching her, she saw the child had stopped breathing. She asked the mother to put her down so she could perform CPR.
Her mother didn't want to let her go.
MORE NEWS | 2 pedestrians struck by hit-and-run driver on Sunrise Highway on Long Island
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