A Queens teen with autism was fatally struck by a car after going missing from his Long Island school this week, and now his family is demanding answers.
The victim, identified as 15-year-old Christopher Williams of St. Albans, was walking along the Southern State Parkway in Valley Stream when he was hit by an eastbound vehicle near Exit 13 shortly after 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to New York State Police.
Williams was taken to Franklin General Hospital in Valley Stream, where he was later pronounced dead.
Shortly before the tragic incident, the teen was reported missing from the Martin De Porres School, a special education school in Elmont, less than a mile from the crash site.
“No one laid eyes on him when this was happening,” his brother, Dealza Lewis, told News 12 Long Island. “No one was able to stop him from doing this and now I’m never going to see him again, so I don’t think they did a good job.”
On a GoFundMe set up to help the family cover funeral costs, Williams’ sister, Danecia Lewis, blamed the school for failing her brother.
“On what should have been a normal school day, our world was shattered forever … and now our family is left grieving an unimaginable loss,” she wrote.
According to Danecia, school officials called the boy’s mother earlier on Thursday to ask about his whereabouts, “unaware that he was already gone.” A short time later, his mom received a call from a detective “to identify his body.”
It’s unclear how or when Williams walked off school grounds. The school didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The incident came just one day after another Nassau County student managed to leave his school unattended and walk home alone.
The 5-year-old Riverside Elementary School kindergarten student “climbed the fence at the property line and walked home,” Superintendent Matthew Gaven said in a letter to the community.
The boy, who also has autism, walked for more than 10 minutes, passing through residential and main roads, before arriving at home, his family told News 12.
While the boy was unharmed, the incident prompted the Rockville Centre School District to announce it would retrain its staff on supervision practices, strengthen headcount procedures and review campus security, including fencing and gates.
“We know this news may cause concern,” Gaven said in a statement to families. “We want to assure you that your child’s safety is, and will remain, our top priority.”
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