‘He was the sweetest thing ever’
Family of Hamilton Avenue hit-and-run victim demands justice
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Family members of fatal
hit-and-run victim Imorne
Horton demanded justice for
their lost loved-one at a vigil
Friday, after a driver struck
the Red Hook resident and
left him to die on Hamilton
Avenue last week.
“I’m hoping that there
will be justice served for my
son and that the person is apprehended
and will be incarcerated
for killing my child,”
said Horton’s mother, Tasha
Horton, at the March 5 gathering
near the scene near Court
Street. “I miss him dearly. I
just hope that I get justice for
him.”
The 31-year-old died after
a driver hit him while he
crossed the busy four-lane avenue
at the Carroll Gardens-
Red Hook border on Feb. 24
around 6:40 pm. The motorist
then fl ed the scene.
Family members remembered
Horton as a sweet and
kind soul who was always
there for others.
COURIER L 12 IFE, MARCH 12-18, 2021
“He always looked out for
us, protected us as best as he
could,” said his younger sister
Alaywa Andujar. “He was
the sweetest thing ever. He
didn’t deserve this at all and I
just want whoever did this to
come forward.”
To honor his memory,
Horton’s loved ones set up a
shrine at the small Cough Triangle
park. The small sitting
area is positioned at the intersection
amid the constant din
of cars and trucks barreling
down the two-way, eight-lane
throughway and the elevated
Gowanus Expressway above.
Many relatives could not
fathom how the driver could
leave their loved one to die in
the middle of the roadway.
“I don’t why anybody
would just leave him there
– seriously,” said Horton’s
brother Shacory Andujar
through tears.
“In broad daylight, when
there’s traffi c how can he just
keep on going, not even to call
911 and say, ‘I think I hit someone
or anything.’ Just leave
him there like that,” added
sister-in-law Nieve Hernandez.
Investigators found who
they believe to be the driver
and took the person in for
questioning Thursday, but
have yet to make any arrests,
according to a Police Department
spokeswoman.
Horton was the second fatal
hit-and-run in the borough
that day, after a school bus
driver fatally struck 6-yearold
Shimon Fried outside his
S. Fifth Street home in Williamsburg
at around 8:30 am.
The City Council was
also holding a hearing that
day about a proposed bill to
transfer oversight of crash
investigations from NYPD to
DOT, after cops made arrests
in less than 1 percent of cases
in 2020.
Some 35 people have been
injured in 24 crashes at the intersection
during the past decade,
according to NYC Crash
Mapper.
The treacherous crossing
where Imorne Horton was
killed by a driver.Photo by
Kevin Duggan
In response to the treacherous
stretch of roadway, the
Department of Transportation
lowered the speed limit
from 30 to 25 miles-per-hour
on a 1.9 span of Hamilton
Avenue from Luquer to 18th
streets in early 2020, aiming
to calm traffi c on the heavilyutilized
eight-lane thoroughfare.
The city previously studied
Hamilton Avenue as part
of a larger Red Hook transportation
analysis in 2014 and
recommended installing buffers
along the sidewalk, along
with a host of other improvements,
like better lighting,
and sprucing up the derelict
medians with greenery and
seating.
A shrine for Imorne Horton, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver at
Hamilton Avenue and Court Street on Feb. 24. Photo by Kevin Duggan
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