Sister of Queens hit-run victim, 62, blasts driver who fled as ‘a disgrace'

Yahoo

02-05-2025

The sister of a man killed after two motorists hit him outside his Queens home — including one who did not stop — said she could not believe that neither driver saw him in the street.
'The fact of the matter is it's just a disgrace that someone would blatantly hit someone and keep going,' said Debora Ferguson, days after her brother Christopher Gayton was mowed down by two cars outside his South Jamaica home.
'An accident is an accident, but you stay to see what happened. You could say, 'Well, it was the lighting there that was not that great.' We see that. But you see a person. He wasn't in all dark colors. He had beige pants on and a white T-shirt, so you have to see a person, you felt the hitting.'
Ferguson said her brother, a father of two, who walked with a cane, was returning from a grocery store on April 24 when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver along Linden Blvd. near 166th St. around 8:45 p.m.
A 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge then ran into the victim, cops said. Gayton, 62, died the next day at Jamaica Hospital.
Japneet Signh, who is running for City Council in southeastern Queens, posted graphic video on Instagram of Gayton lying in the road, writing that he witnessed the hit-and-run on his way to a meeting.
'He was just merely trying to cross the street from going to the store to go back to his house,' Ferguson said.
Ferguson said Gayton worked for many years as a driver, but didn't like getting behind the wheel anymore. She said a work injury damaged his spine, and left him relying on a cane.
'He has a license, but he wasn't, he didn't like to drive,' she said. 'So to ride a bike and walk, and then your life is taken by somebody driving and being reckless is just crazy to me. So I really think that they need to do something.'
She said Gayton, who was divorced, is survived by a daughter, 47, a son, 43 and five grandchildren.
'Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood knew him,' Ferguson said. 'He was friendly with everybody. You never saw much of a frown on him. He always smiled and [was] always a practical joker.'
Ramona Henderson, 71, lives across the street from the senior-living building where Gayton lived, and has been in the neighborhood for 21 years. She said speeding is a big issue on Linden Blvd. and thinks there should be stop signs or a speed bump added to protect seniors.
'They speed a lot, and they don't stop,' she said. 'The vehicles don't give them time to cross.'