Toddler fatally hit on 55th Street

Sunset Parkers are mourning the death of a five-year-old Asian girl who was fatally struck by a car on Fifth Avenue at the corner of 55^th Street on Thursday, September 26 just after 3 p.m.

According to a witness, little Kiko Shao was standing on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55^th Street, the block on which she lived, with her mom, waiting to cross the street. But the toddler somehow ran out into the middle of the street – against the light – and was struck by a 2002 white Cadillac Escalade being driven by a 28-year-old male.

“I heard people screaming. Then I went outside and saw her lying on the sidewalk,” said Angel Jad, an employee at Cap Bonito Sports, located on Fifth Avenue just across the street from the accident.

EMS rushed Shao to Lutheran Medical Center unconscious and unresponsive, but she died shortly after. The driver remained on the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

But neighbors say that reckless driving is not an issue in this part of Sunset Park and things like this rarely happen.

“It was an accident,” Jad said.