Kianna Underwood, a former Nickelodeon child star, was killed Friday in a hit-and-run in New York. She was 33. Authorities confirmed that she was crossing an intersection in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn when a black Ford Explorer SUV hit her. She was then ‘subsequently struck by a black and gray sedan’, NYPD said in a statement. Underwood was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both drivers left the scene and have not been identified yet.
Kianna Underwood was homeless
Nickelodeon actor Angelique Bates had urged others multiple times to help her former costar, leading up to her death. The 45-year-old understood that Underwood had been homeless for years.
Back in November 2023, Bates shared a video on Instagram. “She’s one of us, and she needs help, but she’s not getting it. Nobody’s speaking on Kianna Underwood.”
Bates added that the cast members acted like a close-knit family while on TV, but were distant off the screen.
After Underwood’s death, Angelique Bates shared a clip with the news article headline. She wrote in her caption: “Y’all have no idea how much this one hurts…Sick to my stomach….So many people failed baby girl.”
Investigators said Underwood was crossing Pitkin Boulevard at Mother Gaston Boulevard early Friday morning when she entered the crosswalk against the traffic signal. She was first hit by an SUV, according to police.
After falling to the roadway, Underwood was then struck by a second vehicle, described as a black-and-gray sedan of an unknown make and model, which ran her over and dragged her several hundred feet, police said, as per the New York Post. Surveillance footage shows a person being pulled beneath a dark-colored vehicle before it speeds away.
Underwood appeared in seven episodes during the final season of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series “All That” and worked in several television and film projects between 1999 and 2005.