By EVAN NEMEROFF
On Nov. 21, 29-year-old Victoria Cuadros was struck and killed by an SUV at the corner of Morris Avenue and Doughty Boulevard in Inwood.
Cuadros had a 6-year-old son named Nicholas, and she had taught at the Five Towns Child Care Center in Inwood for two years. The center, which has just 20 staff members, is a place where everyone knows everyone else well, like a closely knit family.
“Victoria was a gentle and loving teacher,” said Pepper Robinson, the center’s director. “She treated each student as her own child. She was an amazing person and loved by all of us. She will be missed.”
Nicholas, a first-grade student at the Number 2 School, was walking with his mother at the time and was also struck by the SUV, but was not seriously injured. He returned to class on Monday, three days after his mother’s death. “Nicholas is a sweet young boy with lots of friends,” said the school’s principal, Cindy Lee. “He is social, happy, smart and is a wonderful part of the Number 2 family.”
School officials are doing their best to help the family. “The entire school and staff are trying to support Mr. Fernando Jara” — Cuadros’s husband — “and Nicholas through this terrible tragedy,” said Sharryn Friedlander, the school’s social worker.
According to Nassau County Homicide detectives, Cuadros, who lived on Redfern Avenue in Inwood, was walking with her son in a crosswalk at Morris Avenue and Doughty Boulevard at 4:56 p.m. last Friday when the two were hit by an SUV that had turned left onto westbound Morris from southbound Doughty.
Victoria Cuadros was airlifted by Nassau County Police Department helicopter to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where she was pronounced dead at 9:23 p.m. The child, who reportedly suffered a leg injury, was placed in his father’s custody.
“The family is nice, and Fernando is nice, too,” said Orlando Navarro, a Cedarhurst resident who is a good friend of Jara’s. “It was terrible what happened, and I was shocked when I found out. Fernando knows a lot of people, and he is a nice guy.”
The vehicle, which left the scene, was described by police as a maroon or brown Chevrolet or GMC Tahoe or Yukon with dark tinted windows, oversized tires and chrome wheels.
The busy intersection where the accident occurred is surrounded by the Inwood Post Office, a Citibank, a beauty salon and a convenience store. There are no streetlights, and the roadway is very narrow. The corner is now adorned with flowers, and letters in English and Spanish encouraging residents to make donations for the burial, which is being held in Colombia, Cuadros’s home country.
“The entire community has embraced the tragedy,” said Max Oliverio, the owner of Max’s Pizzeria in Inwood, where Jara works. “The gratitude and outreach from the community has been beautiful. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve seen in my adult life. Strangers are helping the family and the sentiment of support is unbelievable.”
A funeral service was scheduled for Wednesday at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. A private cremation was to followed.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Comments on this story? ENemeroff@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
