Amar Diarrassouba, 6, was hit by a truck and killed in East Harlem.
A 6-year-old boy walking to school with his older brother Thursday was
struck and killed by a tractor-trailer in East Harlem — while the
crossing guard was on a bathroom break.
But the heartbroken father of little Amar Diarrassouba said crossing
guard Flavia Roman has been a fixture at the corner and he doesn’t blame
her for his son’s death.
“She loved that boy,” Sidiki Diarrassouba said at the family’s home in
the East River Houses. “Something happened, I don’t want to blame her.”
Marcus Santos /for New York daily news
Diarrassouba was killed at this spot near First Ave. and E. 117th St. while walking to school with his big brother.
Roman, a crossing guard for 10 years, has been suspended for leaving
her post at First Ave. and E. 117th St. without permission at her nearby
apartment, police said. She has worked at that intersection since 2003.
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A devout Muslim and an immigrant from the Ivory Coast, the distraught
dad added, “I believe in Allah, so whatever Allah decides. He’s the one
who give him to me, he can take him back. He’s the one who decide today
was his last day.”
Marcus Santos /for New York daily news
The truck driver was identified as Robert Carroll Jr., 42, of Woodbury, N.J. He was given a summons, but not arrested.
While he spoke, tears streamed down the face of Amar’s mom.
“He was so smart, he loved everybody,” Mehichata Diarrassouba said of
her lost son. “He was a wonderful child, that’s it. What else do you
want?”
Amar’s aunt, Fatima Sylla, was equally distraught.
Marcus Santos /for New York daily news
Police were on the scene investigating the cause of the deadly accident.
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“It is horrible, just horrible,” she said. “A little boy walking to school, and now he is just gone.”
NYPD spokeswoman Inspector Kim Royster said Roman has been suspended.
Marcus Santos /for New York daily news
A police officer on the scene looks over a bloody backpack.
“She said she had an emergency, but she did not notify her supervisor,” Royster said.
Roman’s relatives said police have turned the 55-year-old grandmother
into a scapegoat. They said the guard, who raised five kids on her own,
once saved a child from an oncoming car.
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Marcus Santos
TOTAL HEARTBREAK: Mehichata Diarrassouba said her son 'loved everybody.'
“She hardly ever takes a break,” said granddaughter Karina Matias, 21,
of Queens. “It’s unfortunate that the one minute she does, a child gets
killed.”
Roman was assigned to the post from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
“I don’t understand how anybody can say anything negative about her,” Matias said. “They have to put the blame on someone.”
Marcus Santos /for New York daily news
Carroll had no idea he struck the young boy until bystanders yelled for him to stop.
Amar was heading to Public School 155 with his 9-year-old brother at
7:50 a.m. when he was struck, police said. They were less than a block
from the school.
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