A water delivery truck driver has been indicted and charged with criminally negligent homicide after a fatal hit-and-run last month, the Queens district attorney’s office said on Tuesday.
Boubacar Barry, 28, from Manhattan, was charged weeks after 16-year-old Jael Zhinin was killed in the incident, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The teen’s sister, Leslie Zhinin, 8, also sustained serious injuries, according to officials.
Video surveillance from June 26 shows that Barry had been traveling westbound on 47th Avenue before making a left turn onto 46th Street in Sunnyside, according to the district attorney’s office. In the footage, Barry is seen narrowly avoiding hitting a cyclist as the sisters approach the crosswalk, Katz said.
“No parent should ever have to endure the loss of a child and our thoughts are with the family of these young sisters. It is imperative that pedestrians be able to cross our streets safely and it is incumbent upon every driver to make sure the crosswalk is clear before turning,” Katz said in a statement.
Barry, who is seen looking at the rear driver’s side of his truck instead of straight ahead, continued driving southbound after running over the sisters, the district attorney said.
Jael Zhinin sustained severe head and torso trauma and was pronounced dead on the scene, officials said. Her sister was taken to the hospital and is still receiving ongoing care for her injuries, according to authorities.
Barry could face up to seven years of prison on an 11-count indictment that include two counts of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, criminally negligent homicide, assault in the third degree, two counts of failure to yield, failure to yield the right of way when making a left turn, two counts of drivers to exercise due care and two counts of failure to exercise due care, according to the district attorney’s office.
Barry was ordered to return to court on Sept. 19. His attorney could not be immediately reached.