Driver indicted after woman killed in Lower East Side crosswalk
On Dec. 18, 2025, at Stanton and Clinton streets, prosecutors said Julio Cachago hit 76-year-old Yong Li in a crosswalk and drove away; the city record says she was crossing with the signal and the driver failed to yield.
What We Know
Yong Li, 76, was killed on Dec. 18, 2025, at Stanton and Clinton streets on the Lower East Side. The city crash record says she was a pedestrian crossing with the signal when a driver in an SUV was making a right turn, and it lists failure to yield as a contributing factor. Police and prosecutors later said Julio Cachago hit Li in the crosswalk and drove away. He was arrested and later indicted on charges that included criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to yield to a pedestrian. Sources disagree on the Ford Edge's model year: the city record and a Daily News arrest report identify a 2010 model, while Patch's indictment story described a 2020 model.
Yong Li was crossing with the signal
The city crash record says the crash happened at 6:56 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2025, at Stanton Street and Clinton Street in Manhattan. It records one person killed: a 76-year-old woman pedestrian who was at the intersection and crossing with the signal.
A Lower East Side corner with recent pedestrian danger
The crash happened at Stanton and Clinton streets on the Lower East Side. Gothamist reported that the intersection is within the NYPD's 7th Precinct, where city data showed no traffic deaths that year through Dec. 14, after six by the same point in 2024, all involving pedestrians.
Streetsblog cited city statistics showing 478 reported crashes in the Lower East Side that year, injuring 235 people, including 60 cyclists and 46 pedestrians.
Failure to yield is central in the record and the charges
The city record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor for the crash. Later vehicle entries also list driver inattention or distraction, and say the driver in an SUV was making a right turn.
The Daily News reported that the criminal complaint said Li had the walk light. Prosecutors said Cachago had a green light, turned onto Stanton Street, hit Li in the crosswalk and kept going.
An arrest and indictment followed the hit-and-run
The Daily News reported that police arrested Cachago after he tried to report his 2010 Ford Edge stolen; police had already tied the Ford Edge to the fatal hit-and-run investigation. Prosecutors recovered surveillance video showing the driver pulled over 35 minutes later in the Financial District, got out and inspected the front of the SUV before continuing to the Bronx, according to court papers cited by the Daily News.
Some reported vehicle details differ
The city record and the Daily News arrest story identify the Ford as a 2010 model; Patch's indictment story described the SUV as a 2020 Ford Edge. Early reports described a black SUV.
Early accounts also varied on direction. ABC7 said the driver was northbound on Clinton Street and turning right onto Stanton Street, while the Daily News's first story said the driver was heading east on Clinton Street; the later Daily News court account said Cachago was driving north on Clinton Street with a green light before turning.