14 The Courier sun • november 13, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Man faces murder charge after plowing car into crowd Photos via Facebook Kevin Weekes (left), 21, is accused of driving into three people with his car, killing 20-year-old Kevin Lewis (right). Brave Flushing girl, 7, fights brain cancer Photo courtesy of Danielle Chase BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com @CristabelleT A man intentionally plowed his car into a crowd outside a baby shower in Laurelton Saturday night, killing one man and critically injuring two others, police said. Kevin Weekes, 21, is facing murder, assault and other charges after a wild fight spilled out onto the sidewalk at the corner of Merrick Boulevard and 225th Street about 8:30 p.m. Moments earlier, Weekes had fought with partygoers at the baby shower, police said. He left the shower, jumped into his Nissan Altima and deliberately drove it into the crowd that was gathered outside. A 20-year-old man, Kevin Lewis, was pinned underneath the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A 19-year-old woman with back and neck injuries and a 21-year-old woman with head and leg injuries were taken to Jamaica Hospital. They were both listed in critical condition. Witnesses and family members said the three victims were not involved in the original dispute at the baby shower, according to published reports. After running the three over, Weekes jumped out of his car and fled on foot, according to police. At some point in the evening, Weekes was stabbed, but police did not know if he was stabbed during the fight or in the aftermath of the car crash. He was later arrested at his home and taken to the hospital. Weekes, who is still hospitalized, was waiting to be arraigned Monday afternoon on charges of second-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an incident where a death occurred. It was not immediately clear if the man who stabbed him would also be charged. Screenshot via ABC New York BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com @EricJankiewicz Danielle Chase was taking photos at a baby shower in early August when she noticed that when she asked her 7-yearold daughter Izabella to smile, only one half of her mouth was moving. “Izzy, why aren’t you smiling?” Chase recalls asking her daughter over and over again before the little girl told her, “I am, Mom.” That, combined with a bunch of recent stumbles and unusual clumsiness, prompted the Flushing mom to take the second-grader to the hospital . “Never in a million years did I think they were going to tell me she had brain cancer,” Chase said about the heartbreaking moment when doctors at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center discovered a Grade 1 cancerous tumor. “Everything moved really fast after that.” On Aug. 3, just two days after taking Izabella to the hospital, the doctors attempted to remove the tumor. Sadly, they couldn’t get all of it. A piece was left too deep in the brain for surgeons to reach without risking brain damage, her mom said. Instead, Izabella needs a scan every two months to monitor the tumor, which they fear will continue to grow and require treatment. She also has a shunt in her brain that releases spinal fluid into her stomach, and she has to deal with the loss of sight from the surgery. “I felt like I was ice skating on one foot,” Izabella said, describing the clumsy sensation she felt before the surgery. “But now I feel like I’m ice skating on two feet and I’m slipping everywhere.” Chase, a single mother who had to quit her job to take care of Izabella, is overwhelmed with medical bills and the family has an online fund for donations. Chase will hold a charity event at Tequila Sunrise on Nov. 16 to raise money for Izabella’s medical bills. “If I ask people for anything, I ask them for prayers first before money,” Chase said. Izabella had to be taken out of her school, Sacred Heart Elementary School in Bayside, because of her severely reduced vision. She will be starting home schooling soon and Sacred Heart’s administrators have been very supportive, according to Chase. Izabella says she wants to be a surgeon when she grows up and help little kids like herself. Every once in a while she thinks back to early August. “And she tells me, ‘Mommy, remember that brain ball they took out of me. I’m going to take it and send it straight to hell,’” Chase said.
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