5 Youths Killed In Scarsdale Crash Might Have Been Panhandling: Report

SCARSDALE, NY — The five Connecticut children who were killed in a late-night car crash in Scarsdale in March might have been on their way home from panhandling at a New Jersey mall when the fatal accident occurred, police told WTNH Monday.

The Westchester County Police Department told News 8 that they had obtained video from earlier in the night March 18 at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, where the children, ranging in age from 8 to 17, were seen approaching shoppers and speaking with them, the outlet reported.

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Hours later, Malik Smith, 16, Anthony Billips Jr., 17, Zahnyiah Cross, 12, Shawnell Cross, 11, and Andrew Billips, 8, were killed when the rental car Smith was driving veered off the Hutchinson River Parkway around 12:20 a.m. in Scarsdale, according to officials. Abraham Billips, 9, was the sole survivor, crawling out of the back window that had shattered in the crash. The car struck a boulder, struck a tree and then burst into flames, officials said.

Smith was not a licensed driver, nor did he have a learner's permit, according to authorities.

Police couldn’t confirm to WTNH that the group was panhandling on the night of the accident, but at least one of the children, A.J. Billips, was investigated in August after reportedly standing in a plaza with other children "asking for food and money," Milford Patrolman First Class Jim Cox told the outlet.

Read the full report at WTNH.

Patch reached out to the Westchester County Police Department for more information.