Hit-and-run driver killed Kelvin Mitchell on Webster Avenue
A driver racing down Webster Avenue hit a 43-year-old man in the crosswalk at East 168th just after midnight. Police flagged unsafe speed. The crash crushed his body and ended his life on the street.
What We Know
According to the police report, a driver in a sedan heading south on Webster Avenue hit a 43-year-old man walking at East 168th Street in the Bronx just before 1 a.m. Police recorded unsafe speed as the contributing factor. The pedestrian suffered fatal crush injuries to his entire body. Two occupants in the sedan were also listed in the report, with no injury details given.
A southbound driver left after hitting a pedestrian
The city crash record says a southbound driver in a sedan was going straight on Webster Avenue when the crash happened at 12:44 a.m. One pedestrian, a 43-year-old man, was killed, and the record cites unsafe speed.
ABC7 and the Daily News reported that police were searching for the driver of a black Mercedes-Benz who left the scene. EMS took Kelvin Mitchell to Lincoln Hospital, where he died.
Webster Avenue has seen repeated harm
The official crash record places the fatal crash at Webster Avenue and East 168th Street in the Bronx. Press accounts described the scene in Morrisania and gave nearby cross streets, including East 168th Street and East 169th Street; ABC7’s first report gave East 160th Street.
CrashCountNYC location context identifies Webster Avenue in the Bronx as a corridor with 1,562 crashes, 1,088 injuries, 74 serious injuries and 5 deaths since 2022.
Kelvin Mitchell was remembered as a father and neighbor
Mitchell’s sister, Justina Lorrious, described him as a father of three, a recent grandfather, a construction worker, a talented basketball player and a positive presence in the neighborhood. ABC7 reported that candles and condolences were placed outside his home.
Speed was cited, and a possible police pursuit remained in question
The city crash record cites unsafe speed as a contributing factor for the driver in the sedan.
The Daily News reported that video obtained by News 12 showed a driver in a black sedan moving down a bus lane shortly before the crash, with an NYPD van appearing in the same direction moments later, and that an NYPD spokesman could not confirm whether police were chasing the Mercedes. Streetsblog reported that video appeared to show a police pursuit before the crash, while also noting that it was unclear whether the pursuit caused the Mercedes driver to speed or whether the driver had already been speeding.
Police searched for the driver
ABC7 reported on May 10 that no arrests had been made. The Daily News reported that the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was reviewing surveillance cameras in the area in an effort to identify the Mercedes-Benz and its driver.
Streetsblog reported that friends and family created two memorials for Mitchell, one near his apartment building and another near the bodega he had just left.