Jiayi Zheng, 28, was walking home after an overnight hospital shift when a Cadillac struck her and fled, authorities said.
NEW YORK CITY, NY — A 28-year-old nurse was killed Saturday morning in a hit-and-run crash in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood after finishing an overnight shift at the hospital where she worked, according to police and hospital officials.
Jiayi Zheng, a nurse at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, was crossing at Third Avenue and 55th Street shortly after 7:30 a.m. Aug. 29 when a southbound 2014 Cadillac sedan struck her, police said. The driver continued from the scene and had not been arrested as of Sunday. Zheng was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she was pronounced dead.
The crash occurred only a short distance from Zheng’s workplace. Hospital sources told News 12 that she had just completed an overnight shift and was heading home. The station reported that Zheng worked in a medical-surgical unit and that colleagues remembered her as a positive presence at the hospital.
Police said Zheng suffered severe trauma in the collision. Surveillance footage reviewed by several local news organizations showed a Cadillac traveling through the intersection before striking Zheng as she crossed. New York state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, who represents the area, said the vehicle was speeding, went through a red light and did not stop after hitting her. Police have not publicly identified the driver.
NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn said Zheng’s death was a loss for her family, colleagues and the wider hospital community. The hospital said its nurses play an essential role in caring for patients and that Zheng’s death was being felt throughout the organization.
The fatal crash also renewed concern about pedestrian and cyclist safety along Third Avenue beneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Transportation Alternatives, a street-safety advocacy group, said Zheng was the 11th pedestrian or cyclist killed on a roughly two-mile section of Third Avenue since 2014. The organization said six pedestrians and five cyclists have died along that corridor during that period.
Advocates have also pointed to the 2020 death of another NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn nurse who was struck and killed while riding a bicycle home after an overnight shift near Third Avenue and 56th Street. Transportation Alternatives said the city proposed safety changes for the Third Avenue corridor in 2023 and called for those improvements to move forward more quickly.
The New York Police Department continued searching for the Cadillac’s driver Sunday. Police said no arrest had been made and the investigation remained active. Authorities have asked anyone with information about the crash or the vehicle to contact investigators.
Author note: Last updated August 31, 2026.