Brentwood mom, daughter die after being hit by car

For the extended Aguilar family gathered at the Brentwood home of matriarch Casilda Aguilar, Thanksgiving this year went from celebration to the greatest grief.

More than 20 relatives planned to enjoy what the Peruvian family regards as the most important holiday of the year, but on Tuesday, tragedy struck. Casilda, 78, and her daughter, Faustina Aguilar, 51, were hit by a car as they walked home from a nearby supermarket, carrying groceries for the Thanksgiving feast.

Faustina died that day, soon after she was struck by the car on Wicks Road at Bradley Street around 11:10 a.m., police said. Casilda was rushed to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore in critical condition but died Thanksgiving Day from her injuries.

The women were struck by a 2003 Lincoln Town Car driven by John Redding, 78, of Medford. Police on Friday said Redding had a green light, and the mother and daughter were crossing against the light.

Jose Aguilar, 36, one of Casilda's nine children, said his mother and only sister were about three blocks from their Suffolk home, returning from a Pathmark supermarket with a shopping cart filled with turkey and other holiday food purchases.

"This was the first Thanksgiving for my sister and the children," Jose said at his parents' house Friday. "As you know, the Thanksgiving holiday is an immigrants holiday, so we were all planning for it. It's like, to me, the main holiday."

Redding, who remained at the scene, was not charged in connection with the crash, Suffolk County police said.

Casilda and her husband, Pedro, settled in the United States in 1992, but Faustina and five of her six children had just moved here six months ago. Faustina had begun a manufacturing job at the LNK Pharmaceutical Co. in Hauppauge a month ago, the family said.

But there was no holiday dinner Thursday for the family, already grieving over Faustina's death. Instead, they gathered at the hospital where Casilda was in the intensive care unit. Shortly after 4 p.m., she also died.

More than a dozen family members were again gathered Friday night at Casilda's home on Suffolk Avenue. A candlelit memorial, adorned with flowers, a painting of Jesus, photos of the two women and other items, had been set up in the family living room.

The family's focus now, said Joel Aguilar, 46, another of Casilda's sons, is to get permission from the U.S. government to allow another of Faustina's sons - and her only child still living in Peru - as well as the father of her children to travel here for the funeral.

"We'd like them here to attend the wake," Joel said. "To pay their respects."

The wake is scheduled for Dec. 5 at the Michael J. Grant Funeral Home, 571 Suffolk Ave., Brentwood, in hopes the pair will be able to make it from Peru. The burial is set for the following day at Queen of All Saints Cemetery in Central Islip.

With Yamiche Alcindor

and Matthew Chayes