Teenage Times Square victim named as Alyssa Elsman from Michigan

An 18-year-old girl was killed and her younger sister injured when the out-of-control, wrong way driver ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk in the heart of Times Square Thursday, police officials said.

The New York Post reports that Michigan tourist Alyssa Elsman was visiting the Big Apple with her family, including her 13-year-year sister, when the speeding car, driven by Richard Rojas, 26, slammed into them and nearly two dozen others as he floored it up to West 45th Street just before noon (about 2am AEST).


The siblings were struck on the sidewalk between West 42nd and 43rd streets.Elsman was pronounced dead at the scene and her younger sister was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
The teen from Portage, Michigan, was also on vacation with her friend and her mother, her devastated boyfriend Trevor West told the New York Post.

Trevor West, whose girlfriend Alyssa Elsman was killed in Times Square. Picture: Facebook

Mr West said that he “knew something horrible happened” when he didn’t receive a text back from Elsman who was typically quick text back.

“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,” said Mr West. “I knew something was wrong.”

Mr West, who 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,” Mr West said. “I don’t know how I’m going to function without her ever again.”

Mr West said that Elsman had told him she was enjoying her trip to the Big Apple, where she has visited before, but that she said she started feeling sick.

“She felt better in Times Square,” West said. “Then I didn’t hear from her.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post