By Christina Santucci
The family of a Japanese student who police say was hit and killed by an NYPD cruiser plan to mark the one-year anniversary of his death at a candlelight vigil in Queensbridge early Friday.
Relatives of Ryo Oyamada were scheduled to gather at the site where he was fatally struck at 12:30 a.m., said Christopher Fitzgerald, the family’s attorney, in an e-mail.
Oyamada was crossing 40th Avenue near the corner of 11th Street, across from the Queensbridge Houses, when he was hit by the police vehicle responding to an emergency just after midnight Feb. 21, 2013, authorities said.
The family welcomed community members to attend the memorial, Fitzgerald said.
Oyamada’s relatives filed an $8 million civil action suit in Brooklyn federal court against the city and NYPD in hopes of finding out the circumstances surrounding his death, their lawyer said in an interview last year.
A native of Kobe, Japan, Oyamada was studying at the Zoni Language Center, which has locations in Manhattan and Queens.
Reach managing editor Christina Santucci by e-mail at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com by phone at 718-260-4589.
