Child Hit Killed by SUV in Park Slope

Boy killed by Hummer as he crosses street

BY JIMMY VIELKIND and MICHAEL WHITE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

A 4-year-old Brooklyn boy was struck and killed by a Hummer SUV yesterday as he walked home from a Brooklyn day care center with his teenage aunt, authorities said.

James Jacaricce, who had just celebrated his birthday, died at New York Methodist Hospital shortly after the 3 p.m. crash in Gowanus, officials said.

His 18-year-old aunt, Ta-Nayin St. John, was recovering at the same hospital last night with a shoulder injury.

"My baby! My baby! How could this happen?" St. John screamed as she cradled her dying nephew in the street, according to witness Gil Pabon, 44.

"He was just trampled over," Pabon said of the child.

James and his aunt were attempting to cross Third Ave. at Baltic St. when the 3-ton SUV turned onto Baltic and struck them, police said.

"The guy didn't realize he hit them because the vehicle rides very high," a police source said. "He stopped a short distance away [after hearing screams]."

The SUV driver, Ken Williams, 48, of Brownsville, sat on a sidewalk near the scene and sobbed, witnesses said.

Williams was later given a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian, police said.

"I don't want to hear nothing about no accident. They was in the crosswalk. They had the right of way," said the boy's grandfather, James St. John.

"I loved my grandson. Everybody loved my grandson. He was a happy kid," the grandpa said before breaking into tears. "He was happy about going to school."

Cops found an iPod in the crosswalk, which police said belonged to the boy's aunt. However, it was unclear if she had been listening to the music player at the time she and her nephew were hit.

James, who lived with his aunt and other relatives at a Bond St. apartment, had been at the nearby World of Little People Head Start program shortly before the accident, witnesses said.

The grandfather said the family called James "Juicy," because he loved juice. The boy also enjoyed riding his bike and playing basketball, relatives said.

"No matter what, this kid could make you smile," his grandfather said. "He could make you laugh."

James was the second child in six days killed in Brooklyn after being struck by a king-sized passenger vehicle.

Last Thursday, 3-year-old Eddy Heredia of Massachusetts was hit by an extended cab pickup as it turned left onto Fifth Ave. in Sunset Park.

The driver drove away from the scene, but cops deemed the fatal crash an accident after interviewing the driver, who told police he did not know he hit the boy.

Originally published on February 14, 2007

Flexichick wrote: Interesting, DW. Does he still have vanity plates?

Either way, it's a sad story. People cut me off in crosswalks all the time. I don't know what the hell they're (not) thinking.

"I don't want to hear nothing about no accident. They was in the crosswalk. They had the right of way," said the boy's grandfather, James St. John.