STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 6-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the hospital following a vehicle collision in New Springville Friday morning, according to police.
An NYPD spokesperson told the Advance/SILive.com that Anheli Vasquez-Trinidad, a young resident of Park Hill Avenue in Clifton, died from injuries sustained in the two-vehicle crash.
The collision also left 90-year-old Gerardo Avila, a resident of Tompkins Street in Stapleton, dead. A 70-year-old woman is reportedly in critical condition as well.
A 50-year-old man who was also involved in this crash is in stable condition, police said on Jan. 2.
Police initially said that a 90-year-old man, a 70-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man were in stable condition, and a 7-year-old girl was in critical condition.
Emergency personnel responded to a vehicle collision at Forest Hill Road and Rockland Avenue on Friday, Jan. 2, 2025.(Source photo)
Sandra Figueroa produced a GoFundMe to help Anheli‘s family give her the “beautiful, dignified farewell she deserves.”
“We were not prepared for this unimaginable pain, nor for the financial burden of giving Anheli the beautiful, dignified farewell she deserves,” says the online fundraiser’s description.
“She was tender, joyful, playful, and so deeply loved. Losing her has broken us in ways we never imagined,” Figueroa said in the GoFundMe tribute section. “There is an emptiness in our home, in our arms, and in our lives that can never be filled.”
As of this writing, nearly $8,000 of the fundraiser’s $24,000 goal had been raised.
The crash that killed two
As Advance/SILive.com previously reported, police responded to a 911 call for a vehicle collision involving a Honda SUV and an Audi SUV in the vicinity of Forest Hill Road and Rockland Avenue around 9:57 a.m. Friday.
According to the NYPD, the 50-year-old man was driving the Audi SUV. The 70-year-old woman was the operator of the Honda SUV, which was also occupied by Avila in the front passenger seat and the 6-year-old girl in the rear passenger seat, police said.
At the time of the collision, the Audi SUV was traveling westbound on Rockland Avenue and attempting to make a left turn onto Forest Hill Road. The Honda SUV was traveling southbound toward Richmond Hill Road on Forest Hill Road.
Details were unavailable on whether anyone was speeding or if traffic signals were disregarded.
An FDNY spokesperson told the Advance/SILive.com on Friday that the adults suffered serious injuries. The spokesperson also said a fifth person left the scene before being evaluated by EMS.
Images of the aftermath show the wreckage of the two vehicles near the intersection. Both SUVs suffered extensive visible damage to their front ends.
No arrests had been made in this case as of Sunday afternoon, according to the NYPD spokesperson.