Heartbreaking: 8-Year-Old Boy Killed While Crossing the Road in Brooklyn 

As the sun began to dip over Crown Heights on Saturday afternoon, a walk home from grandma’s house turned into tragedy. Eight-year-old Mordechai Keller, described by family and teachers as joyful, curious, and deeply kind, was struck and killed by an SUV while crossing Eastern Parkway with his older sister.

The black Honda Pilot, driven by a 69-year-old man traveling south on Albany Avenue, collided with the boy at 5:33 p.m., police say. Emergency responders arrived swiftly, but Keller was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital soon after.

“He was a boy who loved life,” his aunt, Baila Krainer, told The New York Post. “Always smiling. He loved to learn. A good-natured kid.”

Neighbors say Mordechai was part of the Chabad community in Crown Heights. Onlookers watched in horror as police cordoned off the street, and members of Misaskim, a Jewish aid group, respectfully collected the boy’s belongings and bloodstained garments after sundown, following religious protocol.

Keller had been walking home with his 17-year-old sister, who has a learning disability, after visiting their grandmother. The driver, who had a green light according to witnesses, remained at the scene and was not arrested. “He looked very sad,” said Ben Kattam, a passerby. “It wasn’t reckless. Just tragic.”

For a city that often moves too fast, this was a moment that stopped traffic (and hearts) in its tracks. And for one family, it marked a permanent rupture. In the words of a teacher who knew Mordechai: “I loved that boy. He was a great kid.”