A six-year-old boy in Brooklyn was struck and killed by an SUV Friday afternoon as he and his mother waited to cross the street in East Flatbush. Shawna Spaulding was walking her son Clarente Turner home from PS 219 in Brooklyn when they were hit waiting in the median of Kings Highway. A collision between a Nissan Pathfinder and a Chrysler Pacifica sent the SUV flying into the median where it hit both mother and son. Clarente died at the scene. Spaulding remains in stable condition with various injuries.
Neither car was issued a ticket or suspected of criminality, but residents say they want the city to slow traffic on Kings Highway down at the busy intersection of 95th St. Both PS 219 where Turner had just begun first grade and IS 252 are a mere block from the scene of the crash. Neighbors say that they frequently see cars racing to beat a red light while packs of children attempt to cross the wide street. One witness said the Pathfinder Friday was trying to "jump the light."
For now the family and neighborhood can only mourn the loss of the young child. Clarente's cousin told the Daily News, "He found the simplest things to laugh about. We celebrated his birthday two weeks ago, and now we're planning a funeral."
