Police arrested a 41-year-old motorist accused of slaying an elderly woman in a Gravesend crosswalk on Jan. 14.
The driver, a Brownsville resident, was traveling along Avenue S when he made a left turn at around 10:30 am, when he struck 72-year-old Maria Leon — who was crossing the street just a half block away from her home, according to police.
First responders rushed Leon to Maimonides Medical Center with severe head trauma, and doctors pronounced her dead the following day, authorities said.
Following an investigation into the incident, cops arrested the motorist on Jan. 25 and slapped him with two misdemeanor charges, including failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care, according to police.
The victim was one of four pedestrian fatalities to occur in Brooklyn within a 48-hour period.
The morning after the crash, a man fatally struck a 67-year-old grandmother in Clinton Hill with his Ford Bronco. A day later, the driver of a private sanitation truck crashed into a 67-year old woman in Bensonhurst at 4 am in an apparent hit-and-run, and a Marine Park woman died after forcing her way off of a city bus, before striking a pole and getting run over.
Police have not made any arrests in the three other cases, police spokesman Det. Hubert Reyes said on Tuesday.
The most recent incident marks the eighth pedestrian death citywide of 2020, after the conclusion of a particularly deadly year last year — which saw 218 traffic-related deaths, including 28 bicyclist and 121 pedestrian fatalities.
