Family and friends are mourning the loss of 16-year-old Jayden McLaurin, who was killed in a hit-and-run in Queens.
Reports state that McLaurin was riding an electric Citi bike on 21st Avenue in Astoria around 9:30 pm when he was tragically hit by a speeding car. Cops say that the suspect was driving with only his learner’s permit in a BMW SUV and that he left the scene and abandoned the vehicle a few blocks away.
McLaurin was taken to Harlem Hospital where he passed away. The police later found the 18-year-old driver from Long Island, Yaser Ibrahim, and charged him with driving without a license, leaving the scene, and having a tinted windshield. The impact of the crash left the bike in pieces on the street.
McLaurin’s death comes after the death of 7-year-old Dolma Naadhun, who was also struck and killed by a driver at the same intersection of 21st Street and 21st Avenue. McLaurin makes the 11th cyclist to be killed in the city thus far.
His family and friends described him as a young man, who loved to play basketball. “He was always happy, doing the exercise, riding on bikes,” neighbor Tavia George said of McLaurin. “Who would do such a tragic thing to hit a child and then leave? The bike was broken in half.”
We will continue to keep the family of Jayden McLaurin in our thoughts and prayers.