By Alex Christodoulides
Christopher Boyd, 23, and his passenger, Eric “Spencer” Richmond, 25, were pronounced dead at the scene at about 4:15 a.m. Sunday after Boyd lost control of his 1992 Ford Thunderbird as they drove eastbound on Hillside Avenue and slid into the path of the MTA bus, police said. Authorities said excessive speed was a factor in the crash.Boyd was given the car for Christmas.The driver of the bus and one of his eight passengers were taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital where they were treated and released, police said.The two men lived near one another in Queens Village, one on Springfield Boulevard and the other on 220th Street, and had attended the same elementary and middle schools in Queens – PS 33, PS 109 and Van Buren High School – and had been friends for years, said Richmond's mother, Yvette Richmond.Boyd's family in Maine could not be reached for comment, but Yvette Richmond had fond words about her son's friend.”Chris was a very quiet, very well-mannered young man. He could be at our house for days and I would barely know he was here,” she said.Richmond attended Queensborough Community College for a year before enlisting in the Navy. He was assigned to a submarine stationed in Groton, Conn., left active duty in 2006 and recently told Boyd's father he was considering re-enlisting, his mother said Tuesday. Richmond loved traveling and wanted to take his parents and sister, Alicia, to see some of the places he had loved as a sailor – Spain and the Seychelles Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean, his mother said.Richmond and Boyd had planned to attend a school for auto mechanics in February, Yvette Richmond said. A line of Matchbox cars adorned the top of the Richmonds' fireplace, below an arrangement of family photos.”Christmas Day we went to dinner in Brooklyn and Spencer turned to me and said, 'Mom, I have to grow up, I have to get my life on track,'” Yvette Richmond said. “He was going to go to Apex. He wanted to specialize in foreign cars, fixing them and selling pre-owned cars. He was going to go into business with Chris.”The car that the two men were riding in at the time of the accident was a Christmas gift to Boyd from his parents, Yvette Richmond said.”He spent Christmas with his father in Maine, and that was his gift. Spencer went up and drove back with him New Year's Day without a problem,” she said.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
