Girl, 14, wanted to be a doctor — but her bright future ended in Queens crash of BMW with boy, 16, at wheel; ‘Life will never be the same’ says distraught mom
The bright future of a 14-year-old aspiring doctor was tragically cut short when she was thrown from the the passenger seat of a speeding sedan whose teenage driver lost control and hit a parked delivery van in Queens, police said Thursday.
When she learned that her daughter Fortune Williams was killed in the crash, “I felt like I died at the same time,” said the girl’s distraught mom, Keisha Francis.
“I feel like I lost my breath at the same time as a mother,” Francis said. “My life will never be the same without my daughter. My life will never be the same. It’s rough.”
Shocking video showed from start to finish the crash at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday in which the 16-year-old driver of a red BMW lost control as he zoomed around a tractor-trailer and smashed into a parked UPS van on North Conduit Ave. near 160th St. in Springfield Gardens, just off the Belt Parkway.
A UPS worker was stepping into his truck when the sedan slammed into its back. The impact threw the worker to the ground.
The impact spun the BMW into the side of the tractor-trailer it had just passed, the video shows.
Fortune was thrown from the luxury car’s passenger seat into the roadway and suffered severe head trauma, cops said. She died at the scene.
“The car was unrecognizable,” a police source told the Daily News. “It was torn to pieces. The female’s body was in the street by the car.”
The 16-year-old teen driver, who has not been identified, somehow emerged with just minor injuries. Medics took him to Cohen Childrens Medical Center.
The UPS driver was taken to Jamaica Hospital with minor injuries. The 49-year-old man driving the tractor-trailer wasn’t hurt.
The boy only had a valid learner permit. He was not immediately charged.
Regardless of age, anyone with just a learner permit can only drive while accompanied by a supervising driver age 21 or older who has a valid license, according to New York Department of Motor Vehicle rules.
Per mile driven, drivers aged from 16 to 19 have a fatal crash rate almost three times as high as drivers ages 20 and older, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says. The crash rate is even higher when other children are in a car — as in the deadly crash in March that killed five members of a former Brooklyn family in Westchester County.
Fortune lived in Brookville, according to cops, and was about two miles from home when her boyfriend crashed.
Francis, 36, said she didn’t even know her daughter was away from their house.
“She was at home with her sister, who is almost 19 years old,” Francis said. “She told her sister that she’s going outside to sit down and talk to her friend, never knowing that she was going to leave with him.”
Francis was at work at the time of the crash, and heard from relatives who told her to call the police.
Francis described her initial conversation with police: “They told me that my daughter has been in a terrible accident, and I asked if she’s okay. They would not tell me, so they took me to the precinct from work.”
At a police precinct 20 minutes later, an officer gave Francis a brown envelope.
According to Francis’ retelling, an officer told her: “I’m going to show you a piece of jewelry. And if it’s the same person — she didn’t make it.’
“They showed me her necklace and a bracelet ....”
“My child is just 14 years old and she was looking forward to her birthday and this is what happens to my child. Her birthday was next month, on the fourth.”
Francis was touched by the card her daughter gave her for Mother’s Day.
“My baby said to me, ‘Dear mom, I know I’m not the best daughter but I want to give you at least the best Mother’s Day,’” she said, reading from the card.
“‘You go through too much to be treated the way you do. You are strong mentally and physically. You are beautiful, you are hilarious and overall breathtaking. I love you more than cooked food. Happy Mother’s day from Fortune. Love you.’”
“It was a beautiful card.”
Francis said Fortune, who was a ninth grader at George Washington Carver High School, had her heart set on being a nurse, and later, a doctor.
“She did nursing in high school. She always wanted to become a doctor,” Francis said.
“I said, ‘You can still be a doctor when you finish high school. You’re going to graduate with a nursing certificate and you can just work as a nurse and you can go to school to be a doctor.’
“At least she’d be stable, working as a nurse as she goes to school to become a doctor.”
Francis said Fortune was inspired by her godmother, who is a doctor. She said Fortune was willing to do the work.
“She was very obedient,” Francis said. “She was very caring. She was very loving and smart. She liked to dress and look pretty. She was so much into her education.”
The distraught mother had little to say about the driver.
“I don’t know of him. I don’t know nothing about him,” she said. “What I want to know is why was he speeding with my child? And, he’s 16. Why does he have a car, driving?”
