A devastating incident unfolded in Queens as the bright future of a 14-year-old girl, who aspired to become a doctor, was tragically cut short. According to the police, the aspiring young doctor, Fortune Williams, lost her life when she was thrown from the passenger seat of a speeding sedan driven by a teenager who lost control of the vehicle and collided with a parked delivery van. The incident occurred in Springfield Gardens on North Conduit Ave. near 160th St., just off the Belt Parkway.
Upon learning about her daughter’s death in the crash, Keisha Francis, Fortune’s distraught mother, expressed her profound grief, saying, “I felt like I died at the same time.” Francis further shared the devastating impact of the loss, stating, “My life will never be the same without my daughter. My life will never be the same. It’s rough.”
Disturbing video footage captured the entire sequence of events leading up to the crash, which took place at approximately 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday. In the footage, the 16-year-old driver of a red BMW can be seen losing control as he maneuvers around a tractor-trailer and collides with a parked UPS van. The collision caused a UPS worker, who was stepping into his truck, to be thrown to the ground. The impact also spun the BMW into the side of the tractor-trailer it had just overtaken.
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Fortune, who was seated in the passenger seat of the luxury car, was forcefully ejected onto the road, resulting in severe head trauma that claimed her life at the scene, as reported by the authorities. A police source described the horrific state of the vehicle, stating, “The car was unrecognizable. It was torn to pieces. The female’s body was in the street by the car.”
Remarkably, the 16-year-old driver, whose identity remains undisclosed, sustained only minor injuries. He was transported to Cohen Children’s Medical Center for medical treatment. The UPS driver involved in the crash was taken to Jamaica Hospital with minor injuries, while the 49-year-old tractor-trailer driver emerged unharmed.
The teenage driver possessed a valid learner’s permit but had violated the rules by driving without a supervising adult aged 21 or older, as mandated by the New York Department of Motor Vehicle regulations. At present, no immediate charges have been filed against the young driver, told Daily Mail.
Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reveal that drivers aged 16 to 19 have a significantly higher fatal crash rate compared to those aged 20 and older, especially when there are other occupants in the vehicle. This tragic incident joins a series of recent accidents that have underscored the dangers associated with inexperienced drivers.
Fortune resided in Brookville, just a couple of miles away from the crash site. Her mother, Keisha Francis, expressed shock, mentioning that she had no knowledge of her daughter’s absence from their home. Francis was at work when she received a call from her relatives, urging her to contact the authorities.
Recalling her initial conversation with the police, Francis shared, “They told me that my daughter has been in a terrible accident, and I asked if she’s okay. They would not tell me, so they took me to the precinct from work.” Approximately 20 minutes later, at the police precinct, an officer handed Francis a brown envelope. Inside the envelope, the officer showed her a piece of jewelry, confirming the tragic news. “I’m going to show you a piece of jewelry. And if it’s the same person — she didn’t make it,” the officer explained. The jewelry belonged to Fortune.
