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GoFundMe set up for woman killed in Times Square crash

Posted at 1:35 AM, May 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-21 06:17:11-04

PORTAGE, Mich. — The family of Alyssa Elsman, the woman killed in the Times Square crash Thursday, has set up a GoFundMe page in her name to help raise money for funeral costs and for medical bills for her sister Ava, who was injured in the crash.

The page was set up Friday with a goal of $10,000 and as of Sunday morning nearly $11,000 has been raised.

Elsman was a recent graduate of Portage Central University and was visiting New York's Time Square when a man drove into a crowd of pedestrians killing Alyssa, injuring her sister and nearly two-dozen other people.

The suspect, now identified as Richard Rojas, 26, told police he had smoked marijuana laced with PCP sometime before making a U-Turn onto the sidewalks of the bustling Crossroads of the World and plowing straight ahead into frightened tourists, according to a criminal complaint.

He didn’t enter a plea and was held without bail. Rojas’ lawyer, Enrico Demarco, had no comment. His family and friends who attended the hearing cried outside court and didn’t speak to reporters.

His next court appearance is May 24.