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Cops Find Car That Killed Crown Heights Mom, Driver Still At Large
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 1, 2012
Modified Jan 1, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 1, 2012
Modified Jan 1, 2012
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The driver who killed 38-year-old Donna Fountain as she headed to work on Christmas morning in Crown Heights remains at large, but her family says investigators have located the vehicle. According to witnesses, the driver may have been engaged in illegal street racing when he or she ran down Fountain on Eastern Parkway, leaving her to die in the street. Police are poring over traffic camera footage from the area, while the local community has come together to raise $25,000 for Fountain's orphaned son Elijah, age 8.
Elijah will now go live with his uncle in Westchester. "It’s like he’s asleep, it’s a dream,” the uncle, Ben Fountain, tells the Daily News. "He and my sister were joined at the hip. He doesn’t understand that she will not be returning in this life."State Sen. Eric Adams has created a scholarship fund for Elijah with $5,000 of his own money. The Hasidic community raised another $15,000, and Korean activists donated $5,000.
First responders found a handwritten list titled "My Dreams" in Fountain's pocket at the scene; it included such goals as "Marry the woman of my dreams" and "Make sure Elijah graduates from college." Adams announced the scholarship fund saying, "There's nothing we can do to take back that nightmare. But today we’re going to continue her dream of giving her son an education."
There is also a $2,500 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the hit-and-run driver. Local Councilmember Letitia James is urging the Crown Heights community to help investigators find the driver, and said, "Now is a good time to do the right thing and surrender to the authorities. If you don’t, rest assured we will all be at criminal court to make sure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I hope the driver(s) think about the family, and comes forward to bring them some closure at this difficult time."
James also notes that in early 2011, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (a region-wide advocacy group) found Eastern Parkway to be one of the city's most dangerous streets for pedestrians, with five fatalities reported at the time of the study. James recently requested that the NYC Department of Transportation complete a study to determine the feasibility of a slow zone along Eastern Parkway.
Anyone with information about the driver who hit Donna Fountain is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. For donations to the fund, contact Adams’s office at (718) 284-4700.
Tagged
Crown Heights
donna fountain
hit and run
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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