Harlem man busted in December hit-and-run crash that killed homeless woman on Upper East Side

Rebecca White, Janon Fisher, New York Daily News
Updated ·2 min read

A Harlem man who police believe mowed down a woman on the Upper East Side in December was arrested and charged with her hit-and-run death, police said Saturday.

Shevon Cintron, 40, was crossing Third Ave. at East 96th St. around 6 p.m. on Dec. 8 when Donovan Stewart, 23, heading uptown, clipped her in the crosswalk, said the NYPD Accident Investigation Squad.

The impact sent Cintron into the path of an MTA bus also heading north, said police.

Emergency medical workers found Cintron’s broken body in the roadway and took her to Mt. Sinai Morningside hospital, where she was declared dead.

The bus driver stopped after the crash — but Stewart, who lives on Fifth Ave. near 125th St., kept driving in his dark-colored sedan, police say.

A friend of Cintron, Hazel Miura, said she had known the victim since she was a child. “She was a beautiful girl — very outgoing,” Muira said. “She was a bit of a tomboy. That’s why I gravitated toward her.”

She said life was not easy for Cintron, whose last known address was a Midtown Manhattan homeless shelter.

“She went through a lot,” Miura said. “This should have never happened to her. It should have never happened to anyone, but this poor girl had been through so much. It’s a tragedy.”

Cintron seemed to be getting her life back together, said Miura, a member of Bronx Community Board 11 and director of housing and development at the Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation.

“The fact that she was living in a shelter means that she was trying to get the help that she needed,” Miura said. “I don’t know why she didn’t come to me. That’s what I do. Housing.”

Stewart was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

“As a mother… I’m sick. They do have the wrong person,” said Stewart’s mother, Princess Martin. “They don’t care. They just want the case.”

Police found a side-view mirror belonging to Stewart’s vehicle at the scene of the collision, but this was merely “bad luck” and a coincidence, Martin, 46, said.

Cops seized Stewart’s vehicle without warning and then urged him to confess, Martin said. On Friday, police told Stewart he could come pick up his car. When he arrived, they took him into custody, Martin said.

Martin said her son has no criminal record and described him as a hardworking father to a 6-month-old son.