The distraught mother of the 10-girl-old girl who was fatally struck by a motorist with only a learner’s permit tearfully described her youngest daughter Thursday as her “baby” and her “mini-me.”
Davina Afokoba, was on the sidewalk on Beach Channel Drive near Dix Avenue in Far Rockaway when a black Mazda lost control and jumped the curb around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, striking her and a 32-year-old woman before slamming into a car wash, authorities said.
Davina’s mother, Priscilla Afokoba, couldn’t say a word without crying Thursday and even dropped to the ground in front of her home.
“My baby is dead,” cried the grieving mom, who needed to be held up by relatives and supporters. “They took my baby away. They took my baby away.”
“Davina is me, me, me,” Priscilla later told reporters. “Davina is my mini-me. She is my baby. My Davina, the day before yesterday she brought all her assignments, her homework. She has nothing less than an A.”
“She is telling me how much I owe her for her good grades,” she added. “Davina said, ‘I’m smart.’ I told her, ‘Yes, I know.’ Davina wrote a book. I haven’t even read it and they take her away from me. She is only 10. She is only 10. By April 18, she will be 11.”
The driver, a 35-year-old woman with only a learner’s permit, struck the 10-year-old girl and a 32-year-old woman.
Davina was walking home from Challenge Preparatory Charter School with her brother when the crash happened, her mother said. It was unclear whether her brother was near her when she was struck.
“I don’t understand what happened – how a baby [was] walking with her sibling and then a car crashed into her,” she said. “I don’t understand. She was coming from school.”
Priscilla insisted Thursday on taking a walk to the scene of the crash – about a block-and-a-half from the home – while clutching the blue-and-white dress Davina wore on her 10th birthday.
The driver failed to negotiate a turn onto Beach Channel Drive, and accelerated as she plowed through the intersection before crashing into a car wash. Peter Gerber“I’m trying to see Davina,” her mother said. “I’m trying to see Davina.”
Priscilla got down on her knees and peeked through the padlocked door of the car wash.
“I see her shoe,” she said. “Davina, come give me a hug.”
Mother and daughter used to share a tight embrace right before bedtime, Priscilla said.
“She doesn’t sleep without me giving her a kiss, here, here and here,” she said, pointing to both of her cheeks and forehead. “If it is not complete, Davina will not sleep.”
“Davina does not give me a hug. She grips me, she grips me too tight,” she said, hugging herself tightly.
Davina has an older sister and brother. The family migrated from Nigeria — where her dad is still living — several years ago.
Davina loved cooking and dancing, according to her mother.
“The last time I came, she did shrimp with spaghetti and a lot of pepper,” said Davina’s maternal aunt Tina Ijoma. “I could not tell her there was too much pepper in it. I ate the little I could eat….not knowing that was the last day I was going to see her.”
FDNY officials gather at the scene of the fatal crash. Peter Gerber“One thing I know about her is that she loves her mother so much,” she added. “She is very close to her mom.”
The 35-year-old driver who allegedly struck Davina had just a learner’s permit, police sources said.
“We just plead with everyone that new drivers should stay off the streets, you know,” said another maternal aunt, Tamata Dabo. “That’s the moral of all this, so innocent children will not be snatched away from us. We beg the city, the community, the police to do more on that.”
The 32-year-old woman struck in the crash was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where she was expected to survive her injuries, according to sources, who said the woman and the girl were not together.
Surveillance video showed the driver failed to negotiate a turn onto Beach Channel Drive, and accelerated as she plowed through the busy intersection and slammed into the building, striking the pedestrians.
As of Thursday afternoon, no charges had been filed, the NYPD said.
No charges have been filed against the driver. Peter Gerber“Why [did] they take my baby away?” Davina’s mom said. “I don’t know. What did I do to that woman?”
Davina is the second Challenge Preparatory Charter School student to die tragically over the past year, CEO Dr. Les Mullings said near the scene. Back in June, Justin Wallace, also 10, was fatally shot during a dispute between neighbors over a shared driveway.
“To me, this is like deja vu all over again,” Mullings said. “It took a toll on our school community, and for this to happen again, it’s like, you know, when will it end? This wasn’t gun violence, but it was a tragedy. A child is lost, is gone.”
“[Davina] is a great student, full of life, a great dancer…full of dreams and ideas,” he said. “She was the life of the party and bang, she is gone.”
Local city council member Selvena N. Brooks-Powers said the city has to “look at the full scope of what took place yesterday and see how we can ensure it does not happen again.”
“I’m a mom,” Brooks-Powers said. “This woman just lost her daughter. I’m absolutely troubled by it. I feel that woman’s pain. I heard her cry. I absolutely want to fix it.”
