Mar 7, 2009 7:41 am US/Eastern
Mother Tries To Cope With Chinatown Van Tragedy
Six Weeks After Horrific Accident Left 2 Children Dead And Another Dozen Injured, There's Anger And Call For Justice
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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On Jan. 22 a food delivery van hopped the curb and struck 17 people in Chinatown, killing two children -- Hayley Eng and Diego Martinez, ages 4 and 3, respectively.
CBS
It is a pain that will never go away.
Her name was Hayley Ng. On the morning of Jan. 22, she, her friend Diego Martinez and 12 of their little friends from a day care center in Chinatown, with two adult supervisors, were walking back from the library.
But in an instant several lives were changed forever. A delivery van jumped a curb.
The little girl's mother, May Cheung, struggled to compose herself during an exclusive interview with CBS 2 HD as she discussed the incident that took her daughter's life.
"There was a lot of things about Hayley … She was always happy," Cheung said. "She just loved life. … She's just … She was just a 4-year-old …"
The interview marked the first time Cheung has spoken on camera about the loss of her beloved only child and Hayley's friend Diego.
With her sister, Wendy, at her side, May chose to finally end her silence. The two children were killed when a deliveryman walked away from his van. He left it still running and in reverse. It bolted onto the sidewalk and slammed into the children.
When asked how she's coping with this terrible tragedy, May lost it.
"No, I'm not all right! I'll never be all right! She's gone!" she lamented.
May and Wendy are asking people to join them Monday at a rally that will start at 11:45 a.m. at Worth and Baxter, and then march to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's office -- all of this because the driver was not charged. He wasn't even issued a ticket.
"When it kills someone, it is a weapon. So he needs to be charged," Wendy Cheung said.
May Cheung couldn't help but look back at her daughter's short life and wonder about what could have been.
"There were so many things that she didn't understand last year that she understood now," she said of her daughter's development. "It's all gone now."
The Police Department and the Manhattan D.A. have said they could not charge the driver, that he was not intoxicated, or speeding, for example. He said that this was a tragic accident.
Obviously, there are families that don't want to hear that. A dozen other children and two adults were injured in the crash.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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