A 9-year-old girl who had just attended a church service was killed in a car accident on Sunday after a driver suspected in a hit-and-run ran through a traffic stop, the New York Daily News reported.
Rebecca Ramnarine was pronounced dead at Brookdale University Hospital, shortly after the 5 p.m. crash in Brooklyn occurred.
The motorist, Kenneth Palache, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, two different counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and driving with a suspended license, the Daily News said.
Palache, 62, was previously pulled over at Remsen Ave. and Avenue L after police noticed his Honda Odyssey matched the description of a car involved in a nearby hit-and-run.
As officers approached him, he sped off and flew through an intersection into a Hyundai Elantra, where Ramnarine was sitting in the back seat. A Toyota Sienna was also involved in the wreck.
"I saw the EMS try to take my daughter out of a mangled car. She was lifeless and had blood all over," Rebecca's mother, Abiola Ramnarine, told the Daily News.
Abiola Ramnarine and her husband, Richard Ramnarine, were driving in a separate car about two minutes behind their daughter, who was in another car with her friend, 11-year-old Faith Cummings, and her mother, 42-year-old Esther Cummings.
Both families just left Restoration Temple Assembly of God in Canarsie and were on their way to dinner.
The rest of the passengers in the Toyota minivan were being treated for injuries at Brookdale. While officials said most victims have minor injuries, Faith Cummings suffered a broken pelvis.
Ramnarine's mother remembered her daughter as an ambitious girl who loved fashion, the Daily News said.
"She loves to dance. She wanted to be a pediatrician," her mother said. "She had a heart of gold."
