Diane Russ, Joseph McKeegan killed in separate crashes in North New Hyde Park and Lake Ronkonkoma, police said

One driver and one pedestrian were killed in separate traffic crashes Friday and Saturday in North New Hyde Park and Lake Ronkonkoma, police said.

Diane Russ, 78, of Springfield Gardens, Queens, fell while walking in the parking lot of a Cumberland Farms gas station on New Hyde Park Road in North New Hyde Park around 2:44 p.m. on Friday. She was then run over by a 2019 Nissan driven by a 49-year-old man, according to Nassau County police.

Russ was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver remained at the scene, police said in a press release on Saturday.

Anyone with information on this crash can call 800-244-TIPS.

Separately, a 20-year-old driver from Holbrook was killed in a single-car crash in Lake Ronkonkoma early Saturday morning.

Joseph McKeegan was driving a 2007 BMW 335 west on Portion Road from the intersection of Ronkonkoma Avenue around 2:36 a.m. when he lost control of the car, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The sedan crossed over the eastbound lanes, left the roadway and crashed into a utility pole. McKeegan was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Suffolk police said in a press release.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to contact them at 631-854-8452.

In 2023, 222 people died in Long Island car crashes. Suffolk has led the state in the total number of traffic fatalities for at least a decade, while Nassau has ranked second deadliest in six of the past 10 years, a recent Newsday analysis found.