Maspeth man charged for fatally running over 3-year-old in Flushing
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The intersection where prosecutors say Kevin Gomez fatally ran over 3-year-old Quintus Chen last week. Gomez was brought up on manslaughter charges on Thursday. Screenshot via Google Maps
By Jacob Kaye
The 20-year-old from Maspeth accused of fatally running over a 3-year-old in Flushing last week was arraigned on a 14-count indictment in Queens Criminal Court on Thursday.
Kevin Gomez faces manslaughter charges in the death of Quintus Chen, the toddler who was run over on College Point Boulevard last Wednesday, sparking outrage and grief in the Flushing community. Adding to the outrage was the fact that Gomez allegedly knowingly fled from the scene after hitting and dragging Chen 10-feet into the roadway.
According to prosecutors, Gomez was spotted on video surveillance parking his car, a 2014 white Infiniti Q50 that was unregistered and uninsured, in a No Standing Zone in front of 41-04 College Point Blvd., near 41st Avenue.
Gomez allegedly left his car around 6:30 p.m., went into a nearby Dunkin Donuts and then returned to his car.
Around the same time, Chen and his father, Jimmy Chen, were walking to their home after the father had brought his son to the doctor’s office.
The toddler walked in front of his father and stepped into the roadway just before Gomez began to pull out into the road.
According to prosecutors, Chen’s head cleared the top of the car’s hood and would have been visible to the driver.
However, without signaling, Gomez drove the car forward into a traffic lane on College Point Boulevard, prosecutors said.
The impact sent Chen onto the hood of the car and then back into the street. He fell underneath the car and was dragged around 10 feet before Gomez began to slow down his car. Though he didn’t appear to get out of the car to check what had happened, Gomez drove off, according to the charges.
Paramedics arrived to the scene to find Chen with severe head and neck trauma. He was taken to nearby NewYork-Presbyterian Queens where he was pronounced dead.
Around two hours after the collision, Gomez’s car was found parked in front of a fire hydrant around four blocks from the site of the crash at the intersection of College Point Boulevard and Pople Avenue, according to prosecutors. Police towed the car.
Not only had the car’s registration and insurance allegedly expired, its windows were tinted well beyond the legal threshold.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s office, the windshield had a light transmittance of 11 percent and the driver’s side window had a light transmittance of 0 percent, both below the 70 percent legal threshold.
Gomez allegedly came to the 109th Precinct the next day to ask where his car had been towed, but was instead arrested by police officers.
It was later found that Gomez only had a learner’s permit and could not legally drive without the presence of a licensed driver 21 years or older.
“There are few threats to public safety more lethal than an unlicensed driver operating an unregistered, uninsured vehicle at night with a windshield and windows tinted so dark you can barely see through them in broad daylight,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“We will show in court that the horrifying death of 3-year-old Quintus Chen was the result of the defendant’s recklessness, irresponsibility and indifference to human life,” she added.
Kevin Gomez, a 20-year-old from Maspeth, was charged with manslaughter in the death of 3-year-old Quintus Chen on Thursday in Queens Criminal Court. Eagle file photo by Walter Karling
The crash sparked concern among area residents and local elected officials, including Assemblymember Ron Kim, who said he often walks his own children to school just where Chen was killed.
The fatal crash marked only the latest of a recent string of deaths of children on city streets.
Earlier this week, a 17-year-old driver, who like Gomez also did not have his license, was charged with manslaughter after he allegedly crashed his car on North Conduit Avenue, killing his passenger, 14-year-old Fortune Williams.
The teen driver, whose name has been withheld, was allegedly driving around 101 miles per hour, or around 70 miles per hour over the speed limit when he lost control of the car and slammed into the back of a UPS truck. Williams was ejected from the car and thrown into the back of the delivery truck, where she died.
The teen is now facing a decade in prison.
City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Transportation, said in a statement Thursday that Williams’ death “serves as a devastating reminder that actions, especially behind the wheel have the potential for life-altering consequences and should be taken seriously.”
If convicted, Gomez could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In all, he was charged with manslaughter in the second degree; assault in the second degree; leaving the scene of an incident without reporting; criminally negligent homicide; reckless endangerment in the second degree; reckless driving; operating a motor vehicle or permitting it to be operated in this state without having in full force financial security; two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a tinted window; operating or driving an unregistered motor vehicle; making an unlawful turn; stopping, standing or parking a vehicle in violation of posted restrictions; and two counts of operating or driving a motor vehicle without a license.
