REUNION TRAGEDY
Sisters, one from Ohio, one from Yonkers, die in FDR crash
A family reunion ended in fiery tragedy when two sisters were killed early Saturday in a gruesome high-speed car wreck on the FDR Drive, police said.
Kesha Montes, 35, and younger sister Monhougane Robinson, 29, were passengers inside a white 2006 Infiniti M35 when its driver lost control and slammed into a concrete median at E. 74th St., with the vehicle bursting into flames and their bodies discovered in the charred wreckage, cops said.
Robinson, of Columbus, Ohio, was in the city after taking a Greyhound bus to visit with her sibling in Yonkers, their parents said. Montes left behind two sons, ages 13 and 15.
“I understand a crash, all right, passing away,” said devastated dad Anthony Robinson, 53 who drove down from upstate New York after getting the grim news. “But when you can’t go and identify [the] bodies, and to sit there and think about your child in flames? It’s mind-boggling. It could drive you insane.”
Mom Marguerita Robinson, who drove to the city from Ohio after learning of the deaths, said Montes’ teenage boys were still coming to grips with the tragedy.
“It hit them, but it ain’t hit them yet,” she said. “It’s starting to get them. That’s what my daughter lived for. All she did was work and take care of her kids, and she decided this one time to go out.
“And boom, she gets in an accident and dies.”
The parents remembered their daughters as an outgoing pair who loved to do people’s hair in their spare time. Monhougane Robinson worked as a cashier at a Safeway in Ohio.
The 33-year-old driver escaped the burning car, and was taken into custody at the scene after the fatal 4:37 a.m. wreck, the NYPD said. Daquan Allen, of the Bronx, was charged with reckless driving, and was listed in critical condition at New YorkPresbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell with severe burns to his face and extremities.
“It’s two parents that are going to live longer than their own kids,” said Anthony Robinson. “You’ve got to bury your own kids. It’s very sad.”
The crumpled and burned car remained on the scene hours later as the investigation continued. Police said there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were involved in the deadly crash.
Marguerita Robinson said Monhougane was planning to head back to Ohio on Sunday and neither parent knew the man who was behind the wheel.
“This is some new guy, I don’t know him,” said the mother. “You’ve got to live knowing you killed two people in the car with you . ... If old boy do survive, I don’t wish [him] bad, but he shouldn’t be able to come free. ... Regardless of jail, that crash should torment him enough.”
The last time the mom spoke with her younger daughter, Monhougane called to say she had arrived at Kesha’s apartment. Now she and Anthony were making plans to have their two girls cremated.
“We’ve got enough pain already,” said the grief-stricken father. “We just want to get their ashes and try to move on.”