More than eight months after former Nickelodeon child star Kianna Underwood was killed in a devastating Brooklyn hit-and-run, police say they have finally made an arrest.
Michael Griffiths, a 72-year-old Brooklyn resident, was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the Jan. 16 crash that killed the former “All That” actress at just 33 years old.
Griffiths has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury, according to New York City police.
The arrest marks a major development in a case that had remained unresolved since Underwood was struck by two separate vehicles on a Brooklyn street early this year.
Police said Underwood was attempting to cross Pitkin Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard in the Brownsville neighborhood when she was hit by a black Ford Explorer.
Investigators say the SUV was traveling westbound on Pitkin Avenue when its driver crossed over the double yellow line while attempting to pass another vehicle that was beginning to turn right.
Police said Underwood was in the crosswalk at the time, although authorities have also said she was crossing against the pedestrian signal.
After the initial impact, Underwood was left lying in the roadway.
That was when tragedy struck a second time.
Police said another vehicle, described as a black-and-gray sedan, then struck Underwood while she was still in the street.
Neither driver stopped after the crashes, according to investigators.
Emergency crews were called to the scene, but Underwood could not be saved. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have identified Griffiths in connection with the SUV, but authorities have not announced an arrest involving the driver of the second vehicle.
Griffiths’ charges involve allegedly leaving the scene following the collision. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted.
Underwood was once a familiar face and voice to children who grew up watching Nickelodeon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
She voiced Fuchsia Glover, Little Bill’s cousin, on the animated Nick Jr. series “Little Bill,” appearing in numerous episodes between 1999 and 2004.
She later joined Nickelodeon’s long-running sketch comedy series “All That,” appearing in seven episodes during the show’s later years.
“All That” became one of Nickelodeon’s best-known programs and helped introduce young viewers to performers who would later become major stars, including Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon.
Underwood also found success onstage.
She spent roughly a year playing Little Inez during the first national tour of the Broadway musical “Hairspray.”
Her acting career, however, eventually faded from the public spotlight.
In the years before her death, police said Underwood had experienced homelessness.
People who worked near the area where she was killed remembered seeing her in the neighborhood. One local store employee told CBS News New York after her death that he would sometimes give the former actress food or money.
Years before the fatal crash, one of Underwood’s former Nickelodeon co-stars had publicly expressed concern for her.
Angelique Bates, an original cast member of “All That,” posted about Underwood in 2023 in an effort to bring attention to the difficulties she was reportedly facing.
Following Underwood’s death, Bates reflected on how much the former child star had cared about the people who remembered her from television.
“As much as she loved her supporters, as much as she loved the franchise, I think she would have loved to know that that love was reciprocated,” Bates told CBS News New York earlier this year.
Underwood’s death prompted an outpouring of sadness from viewers who remembered her from childhood and were stunned by the circumstances surrounding her later years.
Now, more than eight months after the crash, the arrest gives investigators their first publicly announced suspect in the case.
But unanswered questions remain.
Police have not announced that the driver of the second car has been identified or arrested, meaning the investigation into exactly what happened on Pitkin Avenue that morning may not be over.
Griffiths’ case will now move through the New York criminal justice system as prosecutors pursue the charges stemming from the fatal crash.
