Teacher tragedy
Killed on way tto work by SUV and school bus
A special-ed teacher from Brooklyn was fatally struck by two vehicles — one a school bus — as she walked to work Tuesday, cops and family said.
Hermanda Booker, 29, was set to celebrate her birthday in less than two weeks, according to relatives.
“One of the best kids you can ever have,” Booker’s distraught dad, Herman, 53, said of his late daughter while standing outside the family’s home.
Booker’s mother and sister also stood sobbing outside the home.
The young woman began working in September at a school in Ridgewood, Queens, while earning her master’s degree in women’s studies, according to relatives.
On her LinkedIn page, Booker described herself as an “enthusiastic student, working very hard to complete this new chapter in my life.”
Her father said, “Everybody has everything good to say about her. Nobody has nothing bad to say about her.”
Booker was crossing Nostrand Avenue near Kings Highway at the light at about 6:45 a.m. when a gray Toyota Sienna SUV struck her, according to police. The driver stayed at the scene, cops said.
Moments later, the school bus crashed into her. There were no children on the vehicle at the time, and that driver, too, remained on scene, authorities said.
Booker was rushed to the Mount Sinai Brooklyn hospital but couldn’t be saved.
Detectives from the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad are on the case, according to police. There have been no arrests.
Herman Booker said he was told by investigators that his daughter was crossing the street properly, at the light, and that it was the SUV driver who didn’t obey the traffic signal. “That is not proper,” he said. Police did not immediately confirm the dad’s account.
The teacher’s stepfather, Phillippe Antoine, lamented that she had her whole life ahead of her when tragedy struck. “This was her first job,” he said. “She was always loving us, and we were always loving her,” he added.