Driver Charged After Teen Killed at Roosevelt and 62nd
A 19-year-old pedestrian was killed at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens, and police later charged Mayra Cruz after saying she hit Nishath Jannath while driving a Royal Waste sanitation truck.
What We Know
Official crash records record one pedestrian killed just before midnight on March 29 at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens, with a dump truck traveling north and going straight ahead. Police told outlets the driver was operating a Royal Waste Services private sanitation truck and killed the 19-year-old as she crossed. Accounts differ on the truck driver’s movement and the pedestrian’s position: press reports citing police described a turn into a crosswalk, while official crash records place the pedestrian away from an intersection. Initial reports said the driver remained at the scene; police later identified the driver as Mayra Cruz and charged her.
A late-night crash at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street
The city crash record places the fatal crash at 11:55 p.m. on March 29, 2026, at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens. It records one pedestrian killed and no other injuries.
Police told reporters that the 19-year-old pedestrian was crossing 62nd Street in Woodside when a driver in a Royal Waste Services private sanitation truck turned from Roosevelt Avenue and hit her. Emergency medical workers pronounced her dead at the scene.
Roosevelt Avenue has a long record of serious crashes
The crash happened at Roosevelt Avenue and 62nd Street in Queens, along the Roosevelt Avenue corridor. Since 2022, CrashCountNYC's location review for Roosevelt Avenue in Queens recorded 1,834 crashes, 1,043 injuries, 58 serious injuries and 7 deaths.
The victim was close to home
Most reviewed reports identified the victim as Nishath Jannath; Daily News stories rendered her name as Jannath Nishath. She was 19 and lived nearby in Woodside, according to police accounts cited by reporters.
Family and friends told reporters she had been returning home after work and had stopped to buy a birthday cake for her younger sister. The Daily News reported that she was a City College student, and relatives and community members gathered for her funeral at Baitul Jannah Masjid.
Records and reports describe the truck differently
The city crash record classifies the involved vehicle as a dump truck and lists a licensed female driver as its only occupant. News reports described the vehicle as a private sanitation or garbage truck operated by Royal Waste Services.
Accounts also differ on some location details. The city crash record places the pedestrian away from an intersection, while multiple news reports citing police described her in a crosswalk or northern crosswalk. Articles also differed on the driver's direction on Roosevelt Avenue before the turn.
The driver was charged weeks later
Early police accounts said the driver remained at the scene, was treated for minor injuries and was not immediately arrested. QNS later identified the driver as Mayra Cruz, 39, of the Bronx, and reported that police arrested her on June 3 after an investigation by the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad.