BOY, 3, KILLED
Hit by candy van at Brooklyn intersection
A 3-year-old boy on a scooter was fatally struck by a candy van in Brooklyn Thursday, leading his mom to attack the driver, officials and witnesses said.
Elnur Shavkator was riding a green scooter next to his mother and his 3-month-old baby sister when he entered the crosswalk at Benson Ave. and Bay 25th St. at about 12:45 p.m. The crash scene was just a couple of blocks from the family’s Bath Beach home, cops and a relative said.
As his mom watched helplessly, little Elnur was struck by a 2011 Chevy van wrapped in ads for Life Savers and Skittles that turned right onto Benson Ave.
“I was laying down in my bedroom and I heard this woman screaming very loudly,” said a 30-year-old man who declined to give his name. “I saw that somebody was under the car, and I saw blood was coming out next to the tire. I saw this kid laying down there and his head near the tire.”
The victim’s mother confronted the driver, the witness said.
“She was bending over to reach the kid,” he said. “She was angry, she was attacking the driver, throwing punches. She was screaming in a way that I’ve never heard in my life.”
EMTs rushed little Elnur unconscious and unresponsive to Coney Island Hospital, where he died. He suffered trauma to his head and torso.
“I’ve seen them in the laundromat all the time,” the witness said of the victim and his mom. “This kid is a good-looking little guy. I’ve seen him playing on his scooter …. It’s very devastating.”
The van’s driver, Johnny Gonzalez, 61, who lives in the South Slope area of Brooklyn, remained at the scene. He was taken into custody and given a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.
Elnur “was too young to die,” said Moe Rajab, 18, his uncle. “He was a charming and playful kid. He was a good boy.”
Elnur’s mother, Nigora Mukhtorov, and his father, Elmurod Mukhtorov, were too shattered to speak of his death Thursday. “His mother is in the hospital. She was admitted. She is in shock,” said Rajab.
Rajab said Elnur’s dad drives for Uber, and his mother was staying at home to care for Elnur and his little sister, Sabina.
The Mukhtorovs are immigrants from Uzbekistan, and have been in the U.S. for four years.
According to Uzbek tradition, Elnur’s last name is the first name of his paternal grandfather, Rajab explained.
The charges against Gonzalez are “not enough,” Rajab said. “These are initial charges. We hope they increase.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams called on the Department of Transportation to investigate the intersection where the fatal crash occurred.
“A three-year-old boy was killed in an awful crash in #BathBeach today,” Adams said on Twitter. “We mourn his loss and pray for the recovery of his mom.”