Queens drag race kills 5-year-old boy

BY PERVAIZ SHALLWANI | Special to Newsday

8:29 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

A drag race along a residential street in Queens turned deadly early Thursday when one of the speeding cars hit a sport utility vehicle, police said, throwing a 5-year-old boy from the backseat and killing him one block from his home.

Police last night were looking for two men who fled on foot after crashing a blue BMW at 164th Place and 109th Avenue in Jamaica. Police said the BMW 540 was bought under the name of Hendry James. Police said James is not a suspect and has reported his identity stolen.

The BMW was speeding east on 109th Avenue when the car struck the SUV carrying the boy, Jordan McLean, his mother, Marcia McEachron, 44, and his aunt, Claris Edwards, 50, of Far Rockaway, shortly after midnight, police said. Jordan was in the back passenger seat, and was not strapped into a car seat or wearing a seat belt, police said.

Under state law, children ages 4 to 6 must use a booster seat with lap and shoulder belt or a child-safety seat.

Edwards' son, Christopher Smith, 21, said his mother told him she was "stopped at the stop sign and saw two cars speeding and tried to turn away" before being hit.

Jordan was thrown from the vehicle and pinned under Edwards' SUV, neighbors said. Witnesses said neighbors rushed to move the truck, and Edwards tried to revive the boy until authorities arrived. Jordan was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

One neighbor who did not give his name said he heard five loud bangs and came out and heard one of the men in the BMW say, "Let's get out of here," before the men fled south on 164th Place.

Investigators taped posters in the neighborhood yesterday asking for help in finding two men roughly 6 feet tall in their early to mid-20s.

Neighbors said the intersection is a problem for speeding vehicles and racing. The house near where Jordan landed was damaged in an accident three weeks ago.

Born in the United States, Jordan had moved with his parents to the island of Jamaica shortly after, Smith said. Jordan's parents decided to move him back to Queens five or six months ago to attend school.

Smith described Jordan as a kind and smart boy who loved to dance. He said his 5-year-old daughter, Zoey, and Jordan were best friends.

"I don't know how to tell her," Smith said. "He was a good kid. He didn't deserve to die like that."

Staff writer Rocco Parascandola contributed to this story.