CAMBRIA HEIGHTS — Roxina Clayton, the 78-year-old Queens woman who was killed by an ex-con fleeing police, will be laid to rest this week as relatives and friends remembered her as warm-hearted woman with an infectious laugh.
“I'm not even close to over-exaggerating when I say my grandmother was the kindest, most caring, most loving, most generous person I have ever known,” Clayton’s grandson Alec Dailey, a musician who performs under the name Arte Magnus, wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.
“I love you Grammy, even if I didn't say it as much as I should have," said Dailey, who said he last spoke with Clayton a week ago when he told her he had passed his learner’s permit test.
Clayton was killed when her green sedan was struck by the SUV of convicted murderer Derrick Perkins, who was being chased by police down 225th Street in Cambria Heights on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Emergency responders performed CPR but were unable to revive Clayton. They pronounced her dead on the scene, police said.
Dailey described seeing the story of his grandmother's death on the evening news.
“I sit here saddened, lost, with a piece of my heart gone knowing that one my last living angels is gone,” Dailey said.
Clayton's wake is scheduled for for Wednesday and her funeral will take place Thursday at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral at 110-31 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica, according to the church.
A cathedral spokeswoman, who declined to identify herself, said of Clayton, "She was a beautiful Christian woman."
Dailey also wrote about his grandmother's beliefs, saying she was, “always forgiving, and had an infectious laugh that would make you want to laugh, even if you didn't get the whole joke."The last time
Pam Foltz, 61, has been Clayton’s neighbor on 226th Street for 41 years and watched Clayton raise four daughters.
"She was an old-school person the kind of neighbor who would look out for your children and look out for you,” said Foltz.
Clayton was living with her daughter Colette before her death, according to Foltz.
“She's never gonna get over it," Foltz said of Colette. “They were very close.”
