A Long Island man accused of fatally striking a teenage girl in Queens with his vehicle on Saturday morning faces murder charges for the alcohol-fueled hit-and-run, police reported.
According to police sources, 38-year-old Edwin Cruz Gomez of Uniondale was not only intoxicated behind the wheel at the time of the fatal crash, but he also did not have a valid license to drive. Investigators say they now believe the act was intentional after he was seen arguing with the victims moments before.
The incident unfolded at around 4:14 a.m. on Roosevelt Avenue and Benham Street on the Elmhurst/Jackson Heights border, when cops from the 110th Precinct received the horrifying report.
Driving a gray 2009 Chevy Suburban, Cruz Gomez allegedly jumped the curb and struck 16-year-old Jhoanny Gomez-Alvarez and her 32-year-old mother.
Police reported that Cruz Gomez then attempted to flee the scene by backing up before turning and then going the wrong way down Benham Street. Seconds later, he collided with a parked, unoccupied vehicle.
Gomez-Alvarez was pronounced dead in the aftermath. The girl’s mother was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition.
Police sources reported that Gomez-Alvarez had some kind of argument with the pair after making sexual remarks about the girl moments before the deadly hit-and-run collision.
Cruz Gomez faces a laundry list of charges including murder, attempted murder, attempted assault, assault, vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in a death, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or higher, driving while intoxicated, criminal possession of a weapon, a license restriction violation, leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury, and unlicensed operator.
