Safe place to visit for Halloween is a scene of tragedy

It was 9-year-old Tamia Metz's first time trick-or-treating, and her relatives wanted to take the East Orange third-grader somewhere safe.

"Our family had gone trick-or-treating in Nutley before, and it was always fine, nothing ever happened," said N'Kita Cuffie of Newark, one of three adults who took her 3-year-old nephew, Kyseem Cuffie, and Tamia, her godsister, to Nutley Saturday.

But the family's Halloween came to a horrific end when Tamia, dressed in black as a witch, was struck and killed by an SUV just minutes into the trip.

Nutley police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office are trying to determine what precipitated the accident at Washington Street and Nutley Avenue, a residential strip and popular trick-or-treat destination.

Cuffie said she was walking with her boyfriend and Kyseem's mother behind the children while they all crossed the street. Tamia was holding hands with Kyseem, who was dressed as Spider-Man, when Cuffie said a car sped down Washington Street, hit Tamia and dragged her for some time before stopping.

"The car came so fast down Washington that I couldn't push the children out of the way," Cuffie said.

The crash killed Tamia and injured Kyseem, who was at University Hospital in Newark with minor injuries yesterday, said Nutley police Lt. Steven Rogers.

Rogers said he cannot confirm Cuffie's account while the incident is under investigation and did not release the name of the 44-year-old driver of the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder that struck Tamia.

"There are rumors going around, but we haven't determined exactly what happened," Rogers said.

The driver waited at the scene after the accident and was taken to University Hospital for trauma and released.

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