A New York family is demanding answers after a teenage boy was killed after leaving his school by himself. Christopher Williams was struck by a car and killed in Long Island after running away from his school. The police were called to the site of the incident, and shortly afterward, they received a call. It was Williams’ school, calling to report his disappearance. As all of this was happening, the boy’s family was in the dark, and ow, they’re trying to figure out how such a thing could have happened.
On September 4, 2025, 15-year-old Williams, who has autism, was killed on the Southern State Parkway on Long Island, New York State Police said, as reported by People. Nassau County police received a description of the person killed about 1:15 p.m. About 15 minutes later, police received a call about a missing boy from the Martin de Porres School for Exceptional Children, which Williams attended.
Based on the description, police were quickly able to identify the victim as the teen, detective Tracey Cabey told the outlet. The school is less than a mile away from where he was found dead.
“They know he’s a runner,” the teen’s mother, Melissa Lewis, told People about the school. “He ran away from my home plenty of times.”
Lewis said her phone wasn’t working on the day her son was killed. About 1:30 p.m., an assistant principal and a behavioral assistant from the school showed up at her home. They informed her that her son had jumped out of a window and asked where he would go. She told them about a nearby gym and store, giving them another son’s number to contact her.
Not too long afterward, police arrived at her home to tell her the boy had been killed. They had a photo of him they got from the school.
“They failed my child,” Lewis said, per People. “My son goes to a special needs school. He’s autistic. How can they let him run away?”
Lewis told the magazine she plans to file a complaint with Nassau police. She also said she wants the school shut down and criminal charges filed.
“I sent my son to school to get an education and he never returned home,” she said. “All my baby wanted to do was finish high school and go to college like his older brothers.”
The family has started a GoFundMe account to cover funeral costs. “The school failed him, and now our family is left grieving an unimaginable loss,” the fundraiser reads. It’s raised more than $25,000 thus far.
A day after Williams’ death, the Martin De Porres School released a statement, CBS News reported.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the student’s family, friends, and loved ones,” the statement reads.
In the statement, Joe Trainor, the school’s executive director, noted that a full review of the school’s procedures and policies had already begun.
“The mission of The Martin De Porres is to educate children experiencing emotional and behavioral problems, and through that education, we strive for every child to have the opportunity to reach his or her fullest potential,” he shared, per CBS News.
“We will always stay true to those core values and put the health and education of our children first. As such, we take this incident very seriously and, working with our board, have already begun a top-down review of our internal procedures and policies.”
State police are investigating the car crash.
