Mineola High School soccer player dies after Williston Park crash

Jed Hendrixson
Christian Melendez, center wearing number 10, pictured with teammates in a photo hanging at the memorial site in Williston Park where he suffered fatal injuries. (Photo by Jed Hendrixson)

Mineola High School senior Christian Melendez has died of injuries he sustained in a Williston Park car crash.

The memorial that has grown at the crash site, honoring the number 10 jersey that Melendez wore. (Photo by Jed Hendrixson)

Melendez, 18, was a passenger in the vehicle, a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero, when it left the roadway on Dec. 21 and crashed into an iron fence bordering a Nassau County sump on the corner of Willis Avenue and Center Street.

The SUV flipped over into the sump upon crashing through the fence. All three occupants of the vehicle were transported to area hospitals, the driver and one passenger with nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.

Melendez died from his injuries on Dec. 24, according to police.

A memorial of flowers, photos and soccer balls has been placed where the car created a large gap in the fence, now replaced with chain link fencing.

Melendez was a member of the high school’s varsity soccer team since he was a freshman and most recently was the team’s co-captain. He was also a former member of the Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club.

Melendez’s funeral will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Faith Baptist Church in Hempstead.

A sunrise vigil will be held at 6:30 a.m. at the high school soccer field on Thursday, Melendez’s birthday. At noon, Melendez and the funeral procession will depart from the high school to his final resting place.

Two GoFundMe pages have been created since the accident, one on Dec. 21 that has already raised more than $35,000 and another on Dec. 23. A Change.org petition signed by 1,328 people asks that a mural be painted at the high school in Melendez’s honor.

Police said the incident was still under investigation.

 

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