An Astoria woman was struck and killed by a driver near her 37th Street home.
File photo by Lloyd Mitchell
An Astoria woman was fatally struck by a driver around the corner from her home on 37th Street on the night of Sunday, June 14.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria responded to a 911 call just after 9 p.m. reporting a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at 34th Avenue and 38th Street and found the woman lying on the roadway near the southeast corner of the intersection.
EMS responded to the location and rushed the critically injured victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She was later identified as Jihang Ortaga, 55, of 37th Street just south of 34th Avenue.
Further investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad determined a 58-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu traveling eastbound on 34th Avenue when she stopped at a red light at 38th Street. When the light turned green, she began making a right turn onto southbound 38th Street.
Simultaneously, Ortega was crossing east to west in the southern marked crosswalk when she was struck by the Chevy, according to a law enforcement source. The driver remained at the scene.
There have been no arrests, and the investigation by the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad remains ongoing.