Lewis’ SUV after it struck Goddard (MILTON SIGMAN WALTERs)
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The man behind the wheel of an out-of-control SUV that fatally mowed down a brave Brooklyn girl seconds after she shepherded six kids to safety was an ex-con with a lengthy rap sheet and two stints in state prison under his belt, cops said yesterday.
Sean Lewis, 44, of Harlem, who also died in the crash, had been stabbed and was trying to drive himself to the hospital when his Range Rover slammed into four parked cars on Pacific Street in Brownsville at about 10:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Cops said the SUV flipped over onto 13-year-old Kira Goddard, killing the girl hailed as a hero for saving others before trying to flee inside her building on Pacific Street herself.
Lewis suffered head injuries and was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where workers discovered that he had been stabbed in the torso before the accident. He was pronounced DOA.
Cops yesterday had no details on the stabbing.
But several Pacific Street residents said Lewis had had a longstanding feud with a neighbor that appeared to have boiled over again last night, with the pair yelling at each other on a nearby street.
“[They] had been arguing over money the past couple of weeks,” one neighbor said.
Lewis had a well-documented tendency for trouble.
He did two years in state prison for robbery starting in 1992 and spent another two years in the joint on a drug-dealing rap four years later.
He had nine priors, including three for driving with a suspended license, although his license was valid at the time of the crash.
Lewis’ son, Sean Norman, 24, insisted that the smashup wasn’t his dad’s fault.
“The reason my father crashed is because he was stabbed,” Norman said.
Lewis “had 11 kids. He was a real family man,” Norman said. “I’m mourning my father and also that innocent little girl. Neither of them deserved to die.
“I don’t know why my father was stabbed. He didn’t have any problems with anyone . . . We need to find out who stabbed my father. He is the one responsible for these deaths.”
Meanwhile, Kira’s mom, Joyce Lovelady, said her daughter was “a hero,” adding, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from her.”
The slain girl’s weeping sister, Tanisha, 14, said that Kira had spotted the SUV careering toward the stoop where the youngsters were sitting and had shouted, “Run! run! run!”
The kids ran inside, but Kira could not get out of the way fast enough.
“She always looked after us,” her sister said.
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks