Last Friday evening, Kalie Gill, a 15-year old Irish teenager from Co. Leitrim was knocked down and killed by a car in Coyne Park in Yonkers.
Kalie and her sister had been attending a church carnival, when, just after 9pm., a car driven by a local school teacher, appeared to career out of control, killing Kalie and critically injuring her 12-year old sister, Lindsey.
It is believed the sixth class school teacher may have suffered a heart attack on leaving the car park. The car seemed to be travelling at around 50 mph, ramming into pedestrians and other parked cars. Two other teenagers suffered minor injuries.
The sisters, together with 500 others, had been attending an Autumn fund-raising carnival for St. Pauls’ Church, in the Irish neighbourhood, when the car struck. Kalie had celebrated her 15th birthday only days before.
Kalie’s parents, Damian and Karen Gill, had spent the last eight years in Leitrim, where they had been running a shop and a pub in Leitrim town while living in Fenagh, a small town, situated between Ballinamore and Mohill. They had recently decided to return to the US due to the continuing economic downturn.
Only two weeks ago, Kalie’s father, Damian Gill, travelled to Leitrim to attend his mother’s funeral.