SCARSDALE, N.Y. (WTNH) – Officials have identified five Connecticut children, aged 8 to 17, who died in a car crash early Sunday morning in New York.
Westchester County officials said a 16-year-old boy, identified as Malik Smith, was driving a Nissan Rogue on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale when the vehicle left the road, struck a tree and caught on fire around 12:20 a.m. Sunday.
Officials said Smith, 17-year-old Anthony Billips Jr., 12-year-old Zahnyiah Cross, 11-year-old Shawnell Cross and 8-year-old Andrew Billips were all killed in the crash. Police said they were from Derby, Connecticut.
A 9-year-old boy, the sixth person in the Nissan Rogue, was the only survivor, according to the Westchester County Police Department. The boy was “apparently riding in the rear hatchback/cargo area and escaped out the rear,” according to police. The boy was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer and Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor were expected to provide an update on the crash around 2 p.m. Monday.
Matt Conway, the superintendent of schools in Derby, said he learned the children were part of a family that had recently moved to the New Haven County community from New York but had not enrolled in the district. Conway said he reached out to the father on Sunday and offered to provide him with information about available support in the community for him and his family. He planned to talk with the father again on Monday.
“It’s the unimaginable,” Conway said. “Having to now make arrangements for five of your children to be buried is a very difficult thing for anyone — one child, never mind five, that you’re going to have to now make arrangements for.”
Neighbors were shocked to hear about the crash.
“My heart goes out to the family. We’re a small community, so we come together in times of tragedy,” Marc Garofalo, Derby’s city clerk, told News 8.
“I have three daughters, and I can’t imagine them driving that far and that happening,” said Nicole Capela, from Shelton. “It’s my biggest anxiety.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
