Tot killed in car crash in Farmingville

A 15-month-old girl who was not properly restrained in her car seat died in a single-car accident when the driver, her grandmother, lost control and the car flipped over several times Wednesday afternoon in Farmingville, Suffolk County police said.

The girl, Terrayjah Burwell, was ejected from the car, which came to rest on the grassy median of North Ocean Avenue, emergency responders said. Farmingville firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate the girl's grandmother and mother from the front seats.

The child had head injuries and was declared dead at the scene, said Sixth Squad Det. Sgt. James Madden, one of the responders to the accident.

"The car seat was buckled in," Madden said. "The child was not properly restrained with the car seat restraints."

The driver, Corenthea Skipwith, 50, of Mastic, and the passenger, Natoya McCoy, 28, also of Mastic, were conscious and not seriously injured, police said.

Both women were treated at Stony Brook University Medical Center and released Wednesday night, a spokeswoman said.

Skipwith was issued summonses for two misdemeanors -- second-degree aggravated unlicensed driving and suspended registration, police said. She was also given summonses for two violations -- having an uninsured car and not having child restraints for a child under 4 years old, police said.

Unspecified felony charges for the grandmother also are being considered, police said.

"The driver just lost control, didn't attribute it to the weather or any other factor," Madden said. "They are absolutely heartbroken."

Family members could not immediately be reached.

The grandmother, mother and daughter were in a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer headed south on North Ocean Avenue, approaching Granny Road, when, police said, the accident happened about 1 p.m. Madden said the car was moving with the flow of traffic. It was raining at the time.

Terrayjah was in a car seat in the back, Madden said.

The car was impounded for a safety check.

Firefighters and police officers said North Ocean Avenue, which many take to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Farmingville, is a dangerous road in bad weather because it dips and rises; in rain, drivers hydroplane, and in snow, they spin out, authorities said.

The stretch of North Ocean just north of Granny Road has been the scene of numerous accidents during times of heavy rain because of bad drainage, said Al Licata, second assistant chief of the Farmingville Fire Department, who was dispatched to the crash scene.

Late Wednesday, two cars collided head-on in the same Farmingville area where the toddler had been killed, Suffolk police said.

The second accident happened about 5:50 p.m. at the intersection of North Ocean Avenue and Granny Road, police said. There were no life-threatening injuries, police said.

Other details were not immediately available.

Police are asking eyewitnesses to the fatal accident to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.