Jerrison Garcia
25 years old

Jerrison Garcia was not the kind of guy who worried about much, according to his father, Nelson. Growing up as the oldest of two brothers, he got along well with his family and made friends easily. “He was a free spirit,” Nelson said. “Everyone liked him."

Jerrison wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he graduated from high school, so he began working with his father as a delivery guy at night. When he craved independence a few years later, he got a job as a night-time security guard in Queens.

“He liked the job, but his favorite thing was his friends,” said his father. On days off they would make music and watch basketball. Although most of them were Knicks fans, he followed the Lakers. “Kobe was his favorite player, ever since he saw him, so they were his team,” Nelson said.

When he died, Jerrison was on the way to play basketball with some friends.

This collision happened on August 18, 2014 near Park Avenue and East 108th Street in Manhattan. See details in the Mean Streets Tracker.

Mean Streets 2014: Who We Lost, How They Lived

Throughout 2014, WNYC tracked the 265 men, women and children killed in traffic crashes in New York City. In addition to reporting the circumstances of their deaths, we looked at who they were in life: mothers, fathers, grandparents, students, recent immigrants and native New Yorkers. To read some of their stories, click on a photograph.