A former correctional officer of the Department of Correctional Services, Trevor Lloyd Samuels, 68, was reportedly killed in a motor vehicle crash in Jamaica, Queens, New York, on December 5, according to police and the New York Daily News.
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Samuels, a father of five, was reportedly struck on a crosswalk at the corner of 168th Street and 93rd Avenue by an unlicensed driver of a moped — a low-powered, two-wheeled vehicle. Mopeds and scooters are widely used in New York City for delivery, rental, and personal travel due to their ability to navigate heavy traffic.
He had been completing last-minute shopping ahead of a planned trip to Jamaica — his first in three years — the Daily News reported. “He was due to leave the US on Tuesday, December 9 and was excited about it,” the newspaper quoted his daughter, Kievette Samuels, as saying.
Kievette, the oldest of his children and who lived with him in Springfield Gardens, about four miles from the crash site, told the paper that her father was buying gifts to bring home for relatives and friends affected by Hurricane Melissa, and to attend the funeral of a colleague.
Samuels also leaves behind his 90-year-old mother, who lives in Florida, and five grandchildren, the Daily News said. Four of his five children still reside in Jamaica.
Police said they arrested 26-year-old Yunior Buleje Rodriguez of Richmond Hill at the scene and charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Samuels reportedly worked in the medical section of the General Penitentiary in Kingston while serving as a correctional officer. Kievette described him as “having a razor-sharp memory, as he would vividly recall events of 50, 60 years ago,” according to the newspaper. While she acknowledged that an arrest cannot bring her father back, she told the Daily News, “I am glad an arrest has been made.”
Additional reporting by The New York Post said the 68-year-old grandfather was crossing 93rd Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday when he was struck and killed.
Samuels, who moved to New York about 20 years ago, had been preparing to fly to Jamaica on Tuesday to bring his youngest daughter, 17, back to Queens for the holidays, relatives told the newspaper. Kievette said she does not believe the family can celebrate Christmas without their beloved patriarch.