Times Square victim killed in crash was 18-year-old tourist
see also ‘He was driving like a madman and screaming’ Witnesses to the deadly car crash in the heart of...
The woman killed in a deranged driver’s bloody Times Square rampage on Thursday was an 18-year-old tourist who lived in a small Michigan town but loved the glittery spectacle of New York City.
Alyssa Elsman of Portage, Mich., was vacationing with family when she and her 13-year-old sister found themselves in the path of the speeding car driven onto a sidewalk by Richard Rojas, 26, who also injured 21 other pedestrians in the attack.
The siblings were struck just before noon as they walked along the sidewalk of Seventh Avenue, between West 42nd and 43rd streets, police officials said.
Elsman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her sister was taken to an area hospital, cops said.
Less than an hour before the horrific crash, Elsman had posted a video on Instagram showing her standing atop the red staircase above the TKTS booth in Duffy Square, where she had visited one year ago.
The sisters had been on vacation with their mother and one of Alyssa’s friends, Alyssa’s devastated boyfriend, Trevor West, told The Post.
West said he knew something was wrong when Elsman didn’t respond to a text message he had sent her.
“She would always text me back as quick as she could, and when I didn’t hear from her or her friend I knew something horrible happened,” West said.
“I knew something was wrong.”
West, who had started dating Elsman six months ago, said she was “everything” to him.
“She motivated me, loved me, gave me everything I needed that I couldn’t give myself. And now that she’s gone, I don’t know how I’m going to fill that void,” West said.
“I don’t know how I’m going to function without her ever again.”
Elsman had told him she was enjoying her trip to the Big Apple, West recalled. But she also said she had started feeling sick while walking around Thursday morning.
“She felt better in Times Square,” West said. “Then I didn’t hear from her.”
Rojas was bent on committing murder and wanted cops to kill him, police sources told The Post.
Of the 22 people injured in the crash, four were in critical condition as of Thursday night and three were in serious condition, authorities said.
Elsman attended Portage Central High School and worked as a “carhop,” or roller-skating server, at a Sonic Drive-In, according to her Facebook page.
She had been scheduled to return to Michigan on Tuesday.
A witness, El Marvin, recalled seeing a young woman apparently dead on the ground.
“I saw a girl, young . . . She was on the ground,” said Marvin, 38.
“Her forehead was busted. Blood everywhere. She was gone. A police officer took his handkerchief and put it over her face. He was crying.”
Another witness, Julio Sanchez River, 20, was delivering food in the area at the time and ducked inside a building when he saw Rojas’ car barreling toward him.
“There were clothes and shoes everywhere,” he said.
“I saw a bunch of people in the aftermath that got injured. It was a pretty scary sight. It was really gruesome.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio visited victims’ families at Bellevue Hospital on Thursday afternoon.
“You are going to have to be strong now,” de Blasio was overheard telling relatives outside the pediatric ward.
Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick and Kevin Sheehan