By Betsy Scheinbart
A 36-year-old Jamaica man was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run accident as he tried to cross Guy R. Brewer Boulevard near 109th Avenue Monday evening, police said.
At press time, police were searching for the driver of the car that hit Kenneth Marner at about 9:50 p.m. and continued north on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, said Detective Kenneth Meringolo of the accident investigation squad.
Marner was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where he died shortly before midnight, Meringolo said.
Marner, who grew up in Jamaica, graduated from August Martin High School and lived a few blocks away from the scene of the accident, is survived by a large, tight-knit family, including a twin brother, said his cousin Karen Prise.
“It’s hard on my aunt, because he was so close to her,” Prise said of Marner’s mother.
When she talked to Kenneth’s twin brother, Curtis, on the phone after the accident, Curtis kept saying, “Please tell me it’s not true,” Prise recalled.
Prise said she and Marner’s other family members hope detectives can find the driver.
Meringolo said witnesses described the car as a late-model Chrysler or Dodge, which was apparently traveling at high speed when it hit Marner and threw him into oncoming traffic.
The force of the impact propelled Marner into a parked car on the south-bound side of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard near the intersection of 109th Avenue, Meringolo said.
The Jamaica resident had recently been promoted at DSW Shoe Warehouse in Rego Park, Prise said. He had a girlfriend, Harriet, and his family was waiting for him to marry her and produce some children, Prise quipped.
Marner was also survived by his parents, Virginia and William; four brothers and two sisters, plus a large extended family of aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins.
His funeral arrangements were not set by press time.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call the accident investigation squad at 217-3529 or Meringolo’s direct line at 217-3523. All information given to police will be kept confidential.
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 138.
