Driver Convicted of Murder in Mother's Day Queens Crash
Roosevelt Rose was convicted of murder after a Mother's Day crash on 120th Avenue where the city recorded one pedestrian killed and one injured, and prosecutors said Florence Ngwu's daughter witnessed her fatal injury outside their home.
What We Know
On May 8, 2022, a crash on 120th Avenue left 49-year-old pedestrian Florence Ngwu dead and another pedestrian injured. Prosecutors said Roosevelt Rose was driving a white 2019 Ford F-550 truck on the dead-end street in Jamaica when he repeatedly hit parked vehicles while trying to turn around, ignored bystanders, pushed a parked Chevy Equinox into Ngwu, her daughter and a neighbor, and drove away. The city crash record listed aggressive driving or road rage as a contributing factor. A Queens jury later convicted Rose of second-degree murder, assault, criminal mischief and leaving the scene.
A turn on a dead-end street became a fatal crash
Prosecutors said Roosevelt Rose was driving a white 2019 Ford F-550 truck on 120th Avenue in Jamaica at about 8:30 a.m. on Mother's Day when he tried to make a three-point turn in front of Florence Ngwu's home. They said he hit a BMW belonging to Ngwu's daughter, then kept trying to turn around and hit parked vehicles again as bystanders shouted for him to stop.
Florence Ngwu died after being pinned between vehicles
The city crash record identifies the person killed as a 49-year-old female pedestrian and records one other pedestrian injury. Prosecutors identified her as Florence Ngwu and said Rose pushed a parked Chevy Equinox into Ngwu, her daughter and a neighbor as they walked away. They said Ngwu was pinned between the Chevy and another parked car, suffered critical spinal and head injuries, and died at a hospital the next day.
Public records and prosecutors described the vehicles differently
The city crash record categorized the moving vehicle as a 2019 Ford station wagon or sport utility vehicle traveling west, with aggressive driving or road rage listed for its driver. Prosecutors described Rose as driving a white 2019 Ford F-550 truck that belonged to a construction company and said he had never driven that type of truck before that day. The official record also lists a parked BMW sedan, a parked Chevy SUV, a parked Dodge sedan and a parked Honda SUV as involved.
The crash happened on 120th Avenue in Jamaica
The official crash record places the fatal collision on 120th Avenue. Prosecutors described the site as a dead-end street in South Jamaica and said the attempted turn happened in front of Ngwu's home.
A Queens jury convicted Rose of murder
The Queens District Attorney's office said Rose drove away and later abandoned the truck outside a church about a mile and a half from the crash site. After an NYPD Collision Investigation Squad inquiry and prosecution by the district attorney's office, Rose was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting. Prosecutors said he faced up to 25 years to life in prison at sentencing.