Article snippet: Each year the Elsman girls went with family members on a trip, a vacation the two teenagers anticipated all year. On Thursday morning they were strolling the neon-trimmed heart of New York City when a motorist jumped the curb and plowed through three blocks of Times Square sidewalk and into crowds of pedestrians. Twenty people were injured, including 13-year-old Ava Elsman. One person was killed: Ava’s sister, Alyssa, who was 18. Alyssa was a delight to know but initially reserved, said Eric Alburtus, the principal of Central High School in Portage, Mich., the city of about 48,000 people where she grew up. “You had to work to get to know her,” he said. “And it was worth it.” She excelled in the school’s culinary arts program and was known for her baking. Her reserve fell away whenever she was selling muffins to raise money for the school to buy new equipment for the student kitchen. Alyssa would stroll the school halls with a trolley loaded with baked goods during her free periods, Mr. Alburtus said, selling her creations to fellow students. “That was her way of connecting with people,” he said. Grief counselors were at the school Friday to meet with students, Mr. Alburtus said. Alyssa’s culinary instructor could not bear to go to school on the day after her student’s death, Mr. Alburtus said. The driver of the car, Richard Rojas, 26, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and aggravated vehicular homicide. He is in police custody. William Aubry, the ass... Link to the full article to read more
For Family of Times Square Crash Victim, ‘Nothing Is Safe Anymore’ - The New York Times
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