One of the women killed by an 81-year-old Mercedes driver who slammed into several pedestrians on a Bronx street was out shopping with her elderly mother and sister when she was fatally struck, according to a longtime family friend.
Robin Kennedy, 57, was shopping in Allerton with her 84-year-old mother and her older sister Friday afternoon when the out-of-control driver in a Mercedes-Benz C300 heading west on Allerton Ave. blew a red light and barreled through the intersection at Holland Ave. about 2:10 p.m. Friday, cops and her neighbor said.
The speeding Mercedes driver first fatally struck Angel Johnson, 39, who was crossing in the eastern crosswalk, then continued on to hit Kennedy and two other women, ages 84 and 60, walking in the western crosswalk.
A neighbor and longtime family friend of Kennedy’s told the Daily News that two surviving pedestrians were Kennedy’s mother and older sister. The NYPD could not immediately confirm if the victims were members of the same family.
Medics rushed the seven victims, the Mercedes driver and an 84-year-old woman riding in his car, to Jacobi Hospital, where Kennedy and Johnson were later pronounced dead. The 84-year-old pedestrian who was struck was listed in critical condition, cops said Saturday.
The driver kept going, striking a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban driven by a 55-year-old man, a 2020 Jeep Cherokee driven by a 61-year-old woman, and a 2023 Buick Envoy driven by a 71-year-old woman, cops said.
The impact sent the Jeep colliding into a 2026 Cadillac driven by a 60-year-old man, police said.
Afterward, the Mercedes came to a stop on the double yellow line on Allerton Ave., video shows.
The other victims were in stable condition and expected to survive.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Police investigate after a white Mercedes struck four pedestrians, killing two, on Allerton Ave. in the Bronx on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Kennedy lived less than a half mile from the scene in Allerton, cops said.
“(Robin) was always very thoughtful, very helpful. Just a good daughter. They both were,” said Kennedy’s neighbor, Josephine Dorsey, 85. “They went shopping. They went everywhere together.”
“A horrible accident,” Dorsey added.
Dorsey described Kennedy’s elderly mother as a “beautiful person,” who was always “concerned about everybody.”
“Her and her daughters, they’re always together. We were always laughing and talking,” she said of the family.
Video obtained by the Daily News shows the Mercedes-Benz, pulled over to the curb about half block from the intersection, suddenly start to accelerate, its motor roaring, headed for the intersection.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Police investigate after a white Mercedes struck three pedestrians, killing two, on Allerton Ave. in the Bronx on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
“He waited for about five minutes, and then he sped up. I heard him change gears about twice,” said Mojalli Al-Abdi, 40, who owns the nearby Allerton Halal Meat Market. “There were three people that flew in the air. He ran into people and crashed into all of the cars.”
The car slams into a person crossing Allerton Ave. in the intersection’s eastern crosswalk; the pedestrian’s body cartwheels through the air, landing on the pavement on the other side of Holland Ave., the video shows.
“The white car was speeding,” said Kamel Fulton, who narrowly missed being struck in the crosswalk in the chaotic crash. “This one lady was hit and went up in the air, and then he hit two other people and smashed into the other cars.”
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Police investigate after a white Mercedes struck four pedestrians, killing two, on Allerton Ave. in the Bronx on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
As the footage continues, the Mercedes can be seen striking two more women in the intersection’s western crosswalk. One of the pedestrians goes over the car’s hood, while the other is shoved up and over a nearby SUV stopped at the intersection.
“There was so much blood. I ran over. I was giving her chest compressions,” Fulton said of one of the women struck in the western crosswalk. “I was crying. She wasn’t responding. She was unconscious, and I tried to bring her back. Other people were giving CPR to the others who were struck. The bodies were bleeding dark red blood.”
“All four cars were direct hits,” Al-Abdi said. “It was unbelievable. I was dizzy. I almost threw up.”
Fulton said he spotted a small child in the white Mercedes’ back seat.
“The driver was an older man,” he said. “I ran over to him and said, ‘Yo, what’s wrong with you?’ He was talking nonsense. I couldn’t make out what he was saying.”
No arrests have been made. The investigation remained underway Saturday.
