Officials say Malik Smith, Anthony Billips, Jr., Zahnyiah Cross, Shawnell Cross, Andrew Billips were killed in Hutchinson River Parkway crash in Scarsdale
SCARSDALE, N.Y. -- There are new details of the circumstances surrounding an unimaginable tragedy -- five kids killed in a crash in Westchester County on Sunday.
One boy, 9, survived.
Police confirmed the 16-year-old driver did not have a permit or a license. His father spoke exclusively with CBS2's Lisa Rozner on Monday.
The driver, 16-year-old Malik Smith, Jr., a Brooklyn high school student, is being remembered by family and friends as a great kid who loved basketball.
Rozner spoke with his father by phone.
"Playing basketball. Active athlete. He was a kid. Just wanted to play the game and just be outside," Malik Smith, Sr. said. "Good grades, everything."
On Monday afternoon, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said Smith was behind the wheel driving his five cousins -- ages 8-17 -- when he crashed on the Hutchinson River Parkway just north of the Mamaroneck Road exit.
Police say they believe he either fell asleep or got distracted when he went straight instead of following a curve in the road.
"A 2021 Nissan Rogue SUV was traveling northbound apparently at normal highway speed when vehicle veered off the highway, struck a boulder, struck a tree. The vehicle then caught fire," Latimer said.
One boy, 9-year-old Abraham Billips, was in the hatchback, and escaped through the shattered rear window with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say Smith and four of the passengers died from blunt force trauma.
Authorities said two sets of siblings are among the dead.
"Anthony Billips, Jr., a young boy, age 17," Latimer said. "Zahniyah Cross, female 12. Shawnell Cross, female, age 11. And Andrew Billips, age 8."
Authorities say Smith did not have a driver's permit. His father said family had warned him not to drive.
"I told him, his mother told him, his older brothers told him, stop driving without a license, without a permit. Anything happens, you get pulled over, you get in trouble for these things. Stop doing this," Smith's father said.
Authorities believe Smith was driving his cousins probably from the mall or a party in New Jersey back home to Derby, Conn., outside New Haven.
Police say the vehicle was rented by a relative, and it's under investigation how Smith had access to it.
"It's devastating," said Rep. Jamaal Bowman. "And, you know, accidents happen. And so you always think, what could have avoided this?"
That's the question the county executive says investigators will try to answer.
Right now, the investigation is not criminal in nature, but that could change. Authorities are also awaiting toxicology reports.
A candlelight vigil and balloon release were held Monday night in Brooklyn for Smith, the driver.
They found solace with each other, lighting candles and sending balloons with messages of love and loss into the evening sky.
No matter the circumstances, Smith's death cuts deeply for family and friends.
"The only thing we can do is pray for them, pray for the family, for God to give them the strength to go through this, amen," Minister Ramon Rodriguez said.
His cousins, who he was very close with, had just moved to Connecticut from New York City. The school district there says support is being provided to friends in their community who may have known them.
