Boy, 4, Killed By SUV Driver After Rapper Brother's Funeral: Reports

NEW YORK CITY — A 4-year-old boy who was fatally struck by SUV driver in Queens had just returned home from his rapper half-brother's funeral, according to reports.

Demonte McDonald, 4, ran into the street Saturday from between two cars with his mother, 32, close behind in a desperate bid to stop him, police said.

But it was too late — a 33-year-old man driving a 2021 Toyota Rav-4 struck both McDonald and his mother along 147th Street near 119th Avenue, authorities said. McDonald suffered severe head trauma and internal injuries, and was pronounced deceased at Long Island Jewish Cohen Children's Medical Center, police said.

McDonald's death followed Saturday's funeral of his half-brother, Tysheem McDonald, 18, a drill rapper who was shot and killed Aug. 7, the New York Daily News reported.

"I lost two kids," their father, Michael McDonald, told the Daily News.

The boy's mother was also struck by the SUV driver, and she suffered an injury to her foot, authorities said.

The crash is under investigation by the NYPD's collision squad, police said.

Seventeen children aged 18 and under have died in traffic crashes so far this year, according to Transportation Alternatives.

The grim tally is more than the number of deaths in any full calendar year in at least a decade, advocates said.

"So far in 2022, more children have died due to traffic violence than in any year since 2013, and the death rate for children is now 2.6x higher than last year," said Danny Harris, the group's executive director.

Harris called on Mayor Eric Adams to deliver on $904 million worth of promised street safety investments he argued would save children.