Bronx crash autopsy results expected today

Autopsy results are expected today, as police investigate what caused a woman to lose control of her SUV and plummet nearly 60 feet off a Bronx River Parkway overpass Sunday, killing all seven family members in the vehicle.

Police believe the driver, Maria Nunez Gonzalez, 45, of the Bronx,was speeding south at about 70 mph on the parkway at 12:30 p.m. when she may have been distracted and lost control of the 2004 Honda Pilot. The vehicle hit the median, ricocheted across the highway to the outside guardrail and became airborne near E. 180th Street, landing in a yard that houses Bronx Zoo monorail cars, police said.

"The injuries were quite horrific," said Howard Sickles, deputy chief of the city's Emergency Medical Services for Division 7. "I haven't seen anything like this in years."

The crash left seven family members from three generations dead, including Gonzalez' daughter, Jocelyn, 10, Gonzalez's sister, Maria Nunez Rosario, 39, and Rosario's two daughters, Marly, 3, and Niely Rosario, 7, all of the Bronx.

An elderly couple, the parents of the sisters and grandparents of the children, were Jacobo Nunez, 85, and his wife, Ana Julia Martinez, 81, of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, were also killed.

The grandparents had come from Santo Domingo for a visit with family three days ago, relatives said. Nunez Gonzalez had gone to pick them up at her sister's house, along with her sister and the children, and had intended to go to a 1 p.m. Mass, when they changed their minds and were headed back to her house instead for a family celebration, relatives said.

Rita Nunez, 38, a cousin, said, "Everyone was so excited to be together as a family. It was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, we are planning funerals."

Another family member, Simon Torres, 53, a brother-in-law of Nunez Gonzalez, said, "Its very hard for all of us. They were wonderful people."

He said Maria Nunez Gonzalez' husband, Juan Gonzalez, had called him Sunday afternoon, concerned because he had not heard from his wife.

"They disappeared," Torres said. "They weren't answering their phones."

When Juan Gonzalez heard about the accident, he got a "bad feeling" and went to Jacobi Hospital seeking information, Torres said, and there was told of the crash.

"He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it was his wife and daughter," said Torres.

About 40 family members and friends gathered at the hospital, hugging, crying and consoling each other. One, sobbed, "Oh no, no, no, this can't be true. Please tell me its not true. . . . Not the babies, not the babies."

Adina Cruz, who lives in the neighborhood, said that accidents are common on that stretch of the highway, where the speed limit is 55 mph.

"It's terrible," she said. "The parkway is known for that. It's very dangerous, and people drive very fast."

Ronald Werner, deputy chief of the Fire Department's Division 7, said: "It was obvious that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed."

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said the accident will prompt a safety review of the roadway.

"For the second time in a year, an accident on the Bronx River Parkway has led to a car falling off the highway to the streets below," he said in a statement. "In the coming weeks, my office will reach out to the appropriate agencies to examine the safety issues on the Bronx River Parkway and to discuss potential solutions, such as road condition and barrier/fence height, to this issue."

A northbound sport utility vehicle veered off the highway and tumbled 20 feet to the ground in June. The driver and a passenger were injured in that incident.

With Jennifer Barrios, Kenneth Schachter and Marc Beja