Fatal Manhattan Bridge Crash Driver Indicted for Murder

A week after a speeding car blasted off the Manhattan Bridge and killed two innocent bystanders, the wheels of justice have turned, the victims memorialized, and voices of public outcry heard.

The two women allegedly responsible for the Manhattan Bridge horror crash that killed two innocent bystanders–bicyclist Kevin Cruickshank, 55, and bench sitter May Kwok, 62,–on July 19 have both been formally indicted.

There was initially some delay in bringing charges because for the alleged perpetrators’ brief post-crash hospitalization.

At press time, both women are jailed in the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island.

Department of Corrections records describe Lecraft as a Black female, 5’3”, 195 pounds. She is charged Criminal Possession of Weapon and being held on $150,000 bail or $300,000 bond.

Autumn Donn Ascencio Romero is described as a Black female, 4’11”, 100 pounds. She is being held without bail for 2nd Degree murder.

The complete D.A.’s indictment is sealed until both women’s next scheduled court appearance in New York Supreme Court at 100 Centre Street on August 13.

It’s been reported that cops found guns and alcohol in the car, an overdue 2024 Chevy Malibu rental, and that Romero refused a breathalyzer test at the scene.

A Second Canal Street Crash Brings More Criminal Charges

As for a second—thankfully non-fatal—car crash at Bowery and Canal the following morning, July 20, the driver, Eiquann Foster, 25, of Maplewood, NJ, has been charged with DUI.

Initial suggestions that the white Infinity Q50 was stolen have not been clarified.

Memorializing the Victims

the crash site by Sunday, July 1, grew in the week following, and a protest vigil was held there on Thursday, July 24.

Perhaps most affecting of the speakers was Kevin Cruickshank’s sister, Sarah Witt.

“Kevin set out on his yellow taxicab bike for a ride to Coney Island,” she said. “His trip was cut short at an intersection known to some to be very dangerous. It is time to make this known to all and time for the city to take action.”

Published images of the crash scene that Cruickshank bike had flat bars and he wore Pearl Izumi shoes with clipless Eggbeater pedals. This considered but non-standard mix of equipment is reflective of serious, thoughtful rider, not of any more of less value than any other bicyclist but an individual with a personal cycling aesthetic, before he was a tragedy and statistic.

One unexpected side effect of the deaths of Cruickshank and Kwok is renewed consideration of the Manhattan Bridge as architecture and public space—a subject Straus News explored in multiple stories about the drug-infested shantytown that was present amid the Plaza’s arches through much of 2024.

Department of Transportation Cited for “Ongoing Neglect”

On the Monday following the crash, Council Member Christopher Marte issued a statement, which follows below complete. The timing of his statement is important because it reflects his near-immediate reaction to the event itself—not his reaction to the subsequent reactions.

If Marte’s words sound harsh, it’s worth noting that Canal Street doesn’t suffer the agency’s neglect alone.

Take Red Hook, Brooklyn, for example, where residents have been waiting since at least 2014 to get such simple things as safer crosswalk timing addressed. Bill De Blasio was in his first year as Mayor then, and Polly Trottenberg was his DOT Commissioner.

Since then, three giant “last mile” Amazon warehouses have opened in the neighborhood.

A Red Hook Truck and Traffic study—superceding the ones that didn’t occur in the 2010s—has been ongoing since October 2022.

Its Draft Final Report was due October 2024; it hasn’t appeared. A DOT sign affixed at one Red Hook intersection, Court Street and Hamilton Avenue, says a project to “Enhance Pedestrian Safety” is beginning there in April 2025. As of July 28, 2025, no work is evident.

Christopher Marte on the Tragic Loss of Life at Bowery and Canal

“This weekend, our community was devastated by another heartbreaking and avoidable tragedy. Two lives—Kevin Scott Cruickshank and May Kwok—were stolen in a violent crash at the corner of Bowery and Canal Street. I offer my deepest condolences to their families, friends, and all those who are mourning. And I express my profound frustration and anger at the Department of Transportation, whose ongoing neglect has once again had fatal consequences. These deaths are not anomalies—they are part of a disturbing and well-documented pattern.

“Canal Street has long been one of the most hazardous corridors in our city. Since 2011, there have been over 100 crashes at Bowery and Canal Street alone. For years, we’ve been told that safety improvements are coming. Before I was elected, the Department of Transportation promised to act. Since taking office, I’ve repeatedly urged DOT to release their long-overdue safety study and implement real change. And still, nothing. No urgency. No accountability.

“Now, two more lives are gone. It is unbearable that such loss continues while the city delays. There is no justification for keeping the future of Canal Street hidden behind closed doors. If this tragedy does not compel Mayor Adams and the Department of Transportation to take immediate, public, and comprehensive action, then they are willfully allowing one of our city’s busiest streets to remain one of its deadliest. Our neighbors, our cyclists, our pedestrians—everyone deserves safer streets. They’ve waited long enough.”

The DOT Responds

For its part, the DOT focused on the criminality of the event, not the systemic issues raised by Marte.

“This driver should not have been on our streets,” said spokesperson Vincent Barone, “and, as we work to develop safety improvements along Canal, we will continue our advocacy at the state level for legislation to address the most dangerous recidivist drivers who pose an outsized risk to all New Yorkers.”