An unlicensed drink-driver from Long Island has been charged with murder after allegedly using his three-tonne SUV as a weapon to deliberately run down and kill a 16-year-old girl in Queens following a row over lewd sexual comments he made to her and her mother.
Edwin Cruz Gomez, 38, of Uniondale, was arraigned on Sunday night on charges including murder, attempted murder, vehicular manslaughter and driving whilst intoxicated after the horrific early morning attack that left teenager Jhoanny Alvarez dead at the scene in Jackson Heights on Saturday. The suspect faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors revealed in court that Cruz Gomez’s blood alcohol content measured .137 per cent, nearly twice the legal threshold of .08 per cent, when he allegedly mounted the pavement at Roosevelt Avenue and Benham Street and ploughed directly into the teenage victim, pinning her against a pole with his 2009 grey Chevrolet Suburban.
Sexual Harassment Sparked Fatal Confrontation
The deadly incident began at approximately 4:15 a.m. on Saturday outside the Prima Donna Restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue, between Elmhurst Avenue and Benham Street, beneath the elevated Number 7 subway line. Cruz Gomez was standing with several other men when he encountered 16-year-old Jhoanny Alvarez, her mother, stepfather and her mother’s boyfriend.
Assistant District Attorney Abigail Neumiller told Queens Criminal Court that Cruz Gomez began sexually harassing the teenager and her 32-year-old mother, allegedly making statements including “I want to have sex with you” and “If I gave you money, will you have sex with me?”
“He was offering them money, trying to grab them, things that no one really knows,” eyewitness Carlos Alejandro told reporters at the scene.
The crude sexual solicitations sparked a verbal dispute that quickly escalated into a physical confrontation between Cruz Gomez and the teen’s stepfather. Shocking video footage posted on TikTok, which has since been removed, captured the two men grappling on the ground, with the stepfather raining punches down on Cruz Gomez, whose trainer came off during the violent scuffle.
Deliberate Attack Caught on Camera
After bystanders intervened and separated the fighting men, Alvarez’s family walked away from the restaurant to the opposite side of Roosevelt Avenue. They had just crossed Benham Street when Cruz Gomez, wearing a Louis Vuitton jacket, put his trainer back on and headed toward his vehicle.
Surveillance footage obtained by police shows the horrifying moment Cruz Gomez made a right turn onto Benham Street, mounted the pavement and drove directly at the group of four pedestrians. The video captures the SUV speeding through the intersection before deliberately targeting the victims on the pavement.
“He was driving, then he makes a turn and he hits the girl,” a horrified cashier at a nearby delicatessen who witnessed the crash told reporters. “He did it on purpose.”
The witness, who asked not to be named, said Alvarez was walking away from the SUV, apparently unaware that the vehicle was barreling toward her. “She was walking. He hit her in the back. I was working. I came outside and I saw somebody cry and somebody scream.”
Victim “Impaled” Against Pole
Prosecutor Neumiller told the court that “the 16-year-old was hit so hard that she was impaled” after Cruz Gomez pinned her against a utility pole with his vehicle. The SUV remained on the pavement for approximately ten seconds as family members frantically banged on the windows, desperately trying to get the driver to reverse and free the trapped teenager.
Video footage shows at least two pedestrians attempting to stop Cruz Gomez before he put the SUV into reverse and sped the wrong way down Benham Street, a one-way road. He drove only a couple of blocks before crashing into an unoccupied parked white minivan and abandoning his vehicle.
Alvarez was pronounced dead at the scene. Her mother was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital with leg injuries and is expected to recover. Her stepfather also suffered injuries in the attack.
Mother’s Devastating Grief
The victim’s mother, identified as Delgado Odraccir, was so overcome with emotion when she arrived at the morgue to identify her daughter’s body that she had to be wheeled out on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital in Brooklyn.
Speaking to media through social media, the grieving mother pleaded for justice for her daughter. The teenager lived in Washington Heights in Manhattan, approximately 11 miles (18 kilometres) from where she was killed.
A pair of blood-splattered white Nike trainers was found on Whitney Avenue near the scene, marking the violent end to what prosecutors described as a deliberate act of murder following sexual harassment.
Suspect’s Bizarre Behaviour After Attack
In a strange twist, Cruz Gomez approached uniformed NYPD officers a few blocks from the scene after abandoning his crashed SUV and reported that he had been assaulted. He then led them back to the location of the collision, where he was immediately taken into custody.
The suspect said nothing as he was led in handcuffs by police from the 110th Precinct stationhouse on Sunday. His face appeared bruised from the crash, and he was taken to a local hospital, delaying his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.
Cruz Gomez was driving with North Carolina number plates despite living on Van Nostrand Street in Uniondale, Long Island. Police confirmed he did not possess a valid driving licence at the time of the fatal incident.
Multiple Serious Charges Filed
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Cruz Gomez faces an 11-count indictment including second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, driving whilst intoxicated, driving without a valid licence, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
“After the suspect subjected 16-year-old Jhoanny Alvarez and her mother to crude sexual solicitations and harassment, he barreled his three-tonne vehicle into them and pinned the teen against a pole,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement on Monday.
Judge Michael Hartofilis ordered Cruz Gomez held without bail during Sunday night’s arraignment. The suspect did not enter a plea, and information about his legal representation was not immediately available. He is due back in court on Friday, 19 September.
Area Under Intensive Policing
The tragic incident occurred in an area that has been the focus of a massive multi-agency crackdown over recent months. Roosevelt Avenue has seen intensive policing efforts aimed at curbing prostitution, unlicensed vendors and other quality-of-life offences in the neighbourhood.
The location, near the busy Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street subway station complex, is typically bustling with activity even in the early morning hours. The station serves as a major transit hub, with connections to multiple subway lines and bus routes.
Local residents expressed shock at the brazen nature of the attack. Geovanni Quintero, who lives nearby, told reporters: “I just heard the impact, it sounded like a big crush. Like something hit something and a big noise. And then I came out of the building, I looked and I saw the accident.”
Growing Crisis of Traffic Violence
The killing of Jhoanny Alvarez adds to the mounting toll of traffic violence in New York City, where pedestrian deaths have become an increasing concern despite Vision Zero initiatives aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities. The use of a vehicle as a weapon in a deliberate attack particularly shocked the community.
The intersection where the attack occurred sits beneath the elevated subway tracks that run along Roosevelt Avenue, creating areas of limited visibility that can be particularly dangerous for pedestrians. However, prosecutors made clear this was no accident but a deliberate act of murder.
Police closed off Roosevelt Avenue for several hours on Saturday as investigators processed the scene, collecting evidence including surveillance footage from multiple angles that captured the attack and its aftermath.
Investigation Continues
Detectives from the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad are continuing to investigate the incident, working with the Queens District Attorney’s office to build their case against Cruz Gomez. They are reviewing additional surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses who were present during both the initial confrontation and the fatal attack.
The Prima Donna Restaurant, described as serving Ecuadorian and Venezuelan cuisine, operates until 4 a.m. on weekends, drawing late-night crowds to the area. Staff at the restaurant are cooperating with the investigation, though the establishment has not issued a public statement about the incident.
As the case proceeds through the courts, it has reignited discussions about street harassment, violence against women and the devastating consequences that can result when verbal abuse escalates to physical violence. Advocacy groups have pointed to the case as an extreme example of how quickly sexual harassment can turn deadly.
The teenage victim’s family, still reeling from their devastating loss, is being supported by community members as they prepare for what is expected to be a lengthy legal process. If convicted on the top charge of murder, Cruz Gomez faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars for what prosecutors describe as an intentional act of vehicular homicide born from sexual harassment and rage.
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