Driver Who Killed Elderly Walker-Using Woman Indicted: Queens DA

QUEENS, NY — A pickup truck driver who killed an elderly woman crossing a Queens intersection with her walker has been indicted, prosecutors said.

Rony Zino, 27, was arraigned Tuesday on a six-count indictment that included a criminally negligent homicide charge in the death of Linda Lee Hirsch, 75, authorities said.

Zino struck Hirsch, who used a walker, as she crossed a Ridgewood street on which she had the right-of-way Oct. 11, officials said.

"We have too often seen the tragic results of reckless driving when motorists ignore the rules of the road," said Melinda Katz, district attorney for Queens, in a statement. "It is incumbent upon anyone who gets behind the wheel to follow the law, including yielding to pedestrians."

The crash unfolded about 11 a.m. as Zino stopped a 2020 Dodge Ram pickup truck at a red light on 60th and Fresh Pond roads, authorities said.

He waited about seven seconds after the light turned green to wheel his truck onto Fresh Pond Road, where he struck Hirsch, prosecutors said.

Hirsch, an Alabama woman who used a walker, had the right-of-way as she crossed the street, officials said. She hit her head on the pavement after being struck and was rushed to a local hospital, where she had surgery, authorities said.

She died Oct. 20 in the hospital, prosecutors said.