Amir Porterfield, 15, killed after 2 vehicles hit him in Copiague; 1 driver flees

A 15-year-old boy crossing Sunrise Highway at a crosswalk in Copiague was killed Thursday night when two vehicles struck him, including one operated by a hit-and-run driver, Suffolk County police said.

The victim, identified by police as Amir Porterfield, 15, was walking in the crosswalk on eastbound Sunrise Highway about 7 p.m. when he was struck by the driver of a 1999 Subaru, who also was injured, according to police. A second vehicle then hit him, and the driver continued on. Police did not provide a description of the vehicle.

Porterfield was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip.

His aunt, Larissa Bauknight of Wyandanch, said Porterfield was walking home from a basketball game at Walter G. O'Connell Copiague High School, where he was a freshman. His mother had not heard from him for three hours when she and Bauknight went looking for him.

His girlfriend was able to track his location on her phone, and Bauknight and Porterfield's mother arrived at the scene, Bauknight said. Police told the family Porterfield was at the hospital and had died.

"His mother was leaving work and hadn’t heard from him and I went to go look for him," Bauknight said. "We’re trying to piece it together. We're just hurt and just to think he was laying out there by himself, and when he got to the hospital they didn’t know who he was. It would have been hours later if we had waited for him to come home."

Police did not have any update on the investigation Friday evening. Bauknight said there were several witnesses but police did not have a description of the fleeing vehicle. 

"It’s hurtful. You ran a kid over, and regardless if you knew it was a kid or not, you know you hit something," Bauknight said. "You know you're not running over a piece of wood. You ran him over and it’s terrible."

Police said the driver of the Subaru was treated at the hospital for her injuries.

Copiague schools Superintendent Kathleen Bannon told families that grief counselors would be available to students and families. 

"Last evening, our high school suffered a terrible loss with the tragic passing of freshman Amir Porterfield. We extend our deepest condolences to Amir’s family and friends during this difficult time," Bannon wrote. 

Porterfield was one of three children and lived down the street from the high school. He played on the offensive line on the freshman football team, his aunt said. He was planning to attend a team awards ceremony Monday night, she said. He also loved to cook and bake.

"He could bake his behind off. He made cupcakes and all the kids would eat them up," she said. "He was always energetic and loved to have fun. He was a loving and caring kid, and would do anything you asked him to do."

According to statistics reported by Newsday, 873 pedestrians were hit in Nassau County in 2022, the last full year for which statistics were available, with 21 fatalities.

Of those struck in Nassau, 163 were age 20 and younger. Two of those were fatally struck.

In Suffolk, according to statistics provided by the University of Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, there were 427 pedestrians struck in 2022. Fifty-one of those were fatal.

Of those struck in Suffolk, 78 were age 20 and younger, and three of those were fatally struck.

Police are asking anyone with information to call detectives at 631-852-6553 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.

With Lorena Mongelli and John Valenti

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.