Mom of little girl killed in horrific NYC car crash is Tony award-winning actress; driver claims medical issue caused fatal accident that also killed a toddler

Two young mothers were at a crosswalk with their small children on Monday when an out-of-control driver crashed into them, killing the two children and injuring both women. The driver then kept going, reportedly dragging a toddler still in his stroller with her car for 100 yards.

The horrific accident took the lives of one-year-old Josh Lew and four-year-old Abigail Blumenstein, reports the New York Daily News. Abigail’s mother, who is pregnant, is Tony-award winning actress Ruthie Anne Miles, who won the trophy for her 2015 role in “The King and I.” The little boy’s mother, Lauren Lew, was also injured in the crash. Both women are expected to survive, though Pix 11 reports that it is not known if Miles’s unborn child survived the accident.

When Miles won her Tony Award in 2015, she reportedly thanked her friend Lauren Lew.

Witnesses described a ghastly, heartbreaking scene after Wednesday morning’s crash at a busy intersection in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, very close to the home of New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio. Some reported seeing the driver run a red light.

Wendy Lasalle told the New York Daily News that she saw the accident happen.

“It was horrible to watch,” LaSalle said. “I’m still in shock. The white car was going really fast. The pregnant mother was facedown and the baby flew into the street.

“She dragged the stroller and…the other baby was pinned under the car. It was something you see in a horror movie.”

Andrew Macaluso, a medical student at the scene of the crash, told the New York Post that Lauren Lew rushed to her dying son and tried to revive him.

“The mom was sitting there next to him screaming,’’ Macaluso, 26, told the newspaper.

“She was just kind of, ‘Oh, God, this can’t be happening! Tell me this isn’t happening! What’s going on?’

Witness Leah Finnegan, an editor who tweeted photos and updates from the crash site, said that the pregnant Miles was bleeding from the head after the accident.

“They had to cut her coat off,” Finnegan said.

Another witness, June Clark-Smith, saw the little girl just after she was hit by the car.

“[Abigail] was flat on her back, and when the ambulance came, they were giving her CPR,’’ Clark-Smith said.

“I ran to the [mom], telling her, ‘Please, Miss, stay down.’ . . . She tried getting up on her knees and fell back down.’’

The woman were reportedly on their way from a church event at a community center when tragedy struck.

Just two days before the crash, Miles sent a tweet to Apple Support thanking them for helping to cover lost photos of her daughter.

The driver in the fatal crash has been identified as Dorothy Bruns, 44, of Staten Island. According to the New York Daily News, Bruns drove from the scene of the fatalities before crashing into more cars, when she was forced to stop.

She reportedly told police that a medical issue caused the crash, and family members have claimed she had a seizure while behind the wheel. But Bruns has numerous traffic citations, according to the Daily News, and has been cited four times in the last four years for running red lights.

One witness told the newspaper that Bruns didn’t seem concerned at all about what had taken place.

“When they took her out, she was just standing there, like nothing,” Jennifer Muñiz said. “No emotion. Not sad. Not crying. Not asking questions: ‘Is everybody all right?’ Not shaking. Nothing.”

“She was texting on her cell phone like nothing happened.”According to the latest reports, Bruns is not currently in police custody.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched for Ruthie Ann Miles to help with expenses following the tragedy.

 

[Feature image: Ruthie Anne Miles and daughter Lauren/GoFundMe