Family searching for answers after 15-year-old walks off school, is fatally struck in Valley Stream

"On what should have been a normal school day, our world was shattered forever," the family wrote in a GoFundMe page.

Jonathan Gordon

Sep 5, 2025, 9:32 AM

Updated 49 min ago

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For the second time in two days, a Nassau County student was able to walk off of a school campus. This time, it ended in tragedy.
Christopher Williams, 15, died Thursday afternoon when he was struck by a car as he was walking along the Southern State Parkway near Exit 13 in Valley Stream. New York State Police said the driver was going eastbound around 1:15 p.m.
The teen from St. Albans, Queens, was taken to Long Island Jewish Valley Stream, where he died.
Moments before the tragedy, Williams was reported missing from the Martin de Porres School for Exceptional Children, a special needs school in Elmont, less than a mile from the crash.
It's not clear how the boy was able to get off school grounds or how he ended up on the parkway.
The school has not yet responded to News 12's multiple requests for comment.
In a GoFundMe page for the victim, the family claims the school called the teen's mother asking where he was, unaware that Williams was already gone.
"He was only 15 years old, with his whole life ahead of him," the family shared online. "The school failed him, and now our family is left grieving an unimaginable loss."
The tragedy comes one day after a Rockville Centre Kindergartner was able to climb a fence during an outdoor activity at Riverside Elementary School and leave school grounds. The 5-year-old's family said the child with autism walked half a mile from the school to his home, where first responders found him safely after the school district placed a 911 call about a missing student.
In response, the Rockville Centre School District said it was reviewing all of its security policies.
Williams' family said his mother does not have the money to cover his funeral expenses and is hoping to raise $9,000.