Renee Thompson, a girl from the Bronx, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer after leaving her job at the Upper East Side candy shop, Dylan’s Candy Shop.
Thompson was a brilliant student who dreamed of becoming a lawyer. She was also a Big Brothers/Big Sisters volunteer who hoped to attend Howard University after graduating from Coalition School for Social Change located in Manhattan. She was expected to graduate next year.
Joy Clarke, the mother of 16-year-old victim is devastated that she lost her daughter.
The teen was killed Wednesday night at 10:18 p.m. A truck heading west on East 60th street made a wide right turn onto Third Avenue and struck Thompson as she was crossing Third Avenue from east to west.
The young student has just finished her shift at Dylan’s Candy Bar, a famed candy boutique owned by Dylan Lauren the daughter of Ralph Lauren.
The 35-year-old trucker remained at the scene of the accident but has not been charged.
Thompson’s older brother Gregory told the New York Post that Renee “had the warmest heart. There’s nothing bad you could say about her.”
Gregory recalls walking his sister home from school when she was younger and always stopping to buy her candy. After she got her job at the candy store, the tables turned and she started buying him candy.
The candy store, featured on the T.V. shows “Gossip Girl,” “Cake Boss,” and “Project Runway,” closed on Thursday. The distraught employees praised their co-worker who had worked as a cashier there for the past 6 months.
One employee told the New York Post that Thompson was a good person, hard worker, and joyful individual.
The store was scheduled to reopen on Friday.
Customers were disappointed to find the shop closed, but completely understood why.
EVALUATING A WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM INVOLVING A TRAGIC ACCIDENT
1. We look to see what the weather was like and if the weather was a contributing factor.
2. Was she in the crosswalk and did she have the green light as she was crossing the street?
3. Was there anything that impaired the driver's ability to see what was there to be seen?
4. What time of day was this and if it was in the evening, was there external lighting?
5. What traffic control devices were there and were there signs for pedestrians and drivers?
6. When did the driver notice the pedestrian, if at all?
7. Was the driver doing something that distracted him and prevented him from seeing the pedestrian crossing the street?
8. What was the speed of the truck as he turned onto 3rd Ave?
9. When did the truck driver realize he had hit a pedestrian?
All of these questions and more need to be answered and can only be answered by doing a thorough investigation following the accident.
