A Staten Island, New York, family has experienced a whirlwind of emotions after being incorrectly told their loved one had been fatally hit by a car.
Sheila Nagengast was told by police on October 31 that her sister Denise Owens, 44, had died after being hit by a car the day before, Nagengast’s lawyer Glen Devora said.
Devora said the family was “devastated” by the news — and did not learn until 36 hours later that it was another woman who had died.
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Owens was not even in the area at the time and had no idea she had been wrongly identified as the victim, he said.
“They had to notify the rest of their family members, including their kids, about what happened,” Devora said of the family’s reaction to the initial news.
“They even went as far to start planning funeral arrangements and discussions of whether or not they would have an autopsy — decisions you would make when discussing the death of a loved one.”
Justine Perez, 37, of Staten Island, was the pedestrian killed, police later said.
“During the course of our initial investigation, the NYPD misidentified the victim of a fatal vehicle collision,” police said in a statement acknowledging their mistake.
“Upon further investigation, a proper identification and subsequent family notification was made. We apologise for the unfortunate grief we may have caused.”
The accident occurred about 10.30pm on October 30 at the Staten Island intersection of Hyland Blvd and New Dorp Ln, police said in an earlier statement that incorrectly identified the victim as a 44-year-old woman.
An 18-year-old man was behind the wheel of a Nissan Maxima which hit the pedestrian, police said. The driver remained on scene and there were no arrests, but an investigation was ongoing, the statement said.
The pedestrian was declared dead at the north campus of Staten Island University Hospital, police said.
Police did not specify in their statements how the mistake happened.
Devora said he is trying to piece together how the mistake was made because Owens “wasn’t walking in the area at the time”.
“She had no knowledge of the incident,” he said.
“(NYPD) haven’t fully explained why they notified the first family of the mistake.’”
Devora said the crash and how police responded had left two families in “disarray”.
Devora said he is also representing the Perez family who were now in the “process of planning a funeral”.
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