SCHENECTADY — A Queens man has been indicted for leaving the scene of a deadly hit-and-run crash on a city street earlier this year that killed an 8-year-old boy, according to the prosecutor handling the case against the driver, Conroy Simpson.
Law enforcement have accused Simpson, 30, of driving away after hitting and killing 8-year-old Zion Delaney with his SUV in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood on the night of March 19.
Police say city patrol officers found the child, a student in the Schenectady school district, unresponsive shortly before 7:40 p.m. in the area of Chrisler Avenue and Crane Street. He was taken to Ellis Hospital, where he later died.
Simpson was arrested that same night after police said officers found the 2018 Jeep Cherokee they believed hit Zion on Crane Street at about 7:37 p.m. He was also ticketed for not having insurance for the vehicle.
Simpson, an electrician from Queens, had been staying in Schenectady as part of a construction crew working on a construction project, according to officials.
When he was initially arrested, Simpson pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal crash. He was sent to the Schenectady County Jail with bail set at $250,000. The indictment recently handed up by a grand jury charged him with the same crime.
Out on bail, Simpson is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Nov. 13 before visiting Schenectady County Court Judge Chad Brown. If convicted, Simpson faces a sentence of two and one-third years to seven years in prison.
Police investigated the wreck and determined that it was a horrible tragedy.
“The child was crossing the road with his sister, and he just kind of broke away from his sister and was running across the street. The light turned green, and Mr. Simpson drove around and hit him,” said Assistant District Attorney Nicolaus McDonald, adding that “it doesn’t look like (Simpson) hit the brakes immediately.”
According to McDonald, a motorist has a legal obligation, if they suspect they’ve hit a person, to stop and report the matter to police. The prosecutor said there’s a good chance that “had (Simpson) stuck around, I don’t know if we would be looking at criminal charges at all.”
Defense attorney Jasper Mills, who is representing Simpson, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.