A Springfield Gardens woman who was struck and killed by an MTA bus earlier this month was identified by the NYPD on Friday.
Amesha Mishael Keys, 31, was two blocks from her home on Baisley Boulevard near 171st Street on the night of Tuesday, Aug. 8, when she was struck by a QM21 bus at around 10:36 p.m. The driver of the bus did not remain at the scene.
Police from the 113th Precinct in Jamaica responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian struck at the intersection of Baisley Park and Bedell Street, where they found Keys on the roadway unconscious and unresponsive. EMS transported her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead, police said.
Further investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad determined that the MTA bus, operated by Michele Washington, was traveling westbound on Baisley Boulevard, approaching Bedell Street, and, as she made the left turn onto southbound Bedell Street, she struck Keys, who was crossing the street. Washington, who joined NYC Transit in April 2022, drove away from the scene. An NYPD spokesman said Washington has not been arrested or charged but the investigation remains ongoing. The MTA said on Monday that Washington passed routine drug and alcohol and is being withheld from duty as the agency fully cooperates with the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad. One day later, the MTA updated her status.
“Bus Operator Michelle Washington is withheld from duty pending dismissal,” MTA spokesman Lucas Bejarano said on Tuesday.
