Police have arrested 72-year-old Michael Griffiths in the hit-and-run death of Kianna Underwood, the former Nickelodeon actress who was killed while crossing a Brooklyn street in January. She was 33.
The NYPD said Griffiths, a Brooklyn resident, was taken into custody Tuesday morning, September 29. He is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury. Police have not said what led investigators to him after more than eight months, and they have not publicly said which of the two vehicles involved he is accused of driving.
The crash happened on the morning of January 16 in Brownsville. According to police, a black Ford Explorer heading west on Pitkin Avenue crossed over the double yellow line to get around a vehicle that was starting to turn right onto Mother Gaston Boulevard. The SUV hit Underwood as she crossed Pitkin Avenue in the crosswalk against the pedestrian signal. While she lay in the road, a black and gray sedan struck her a second time. Neither driver stopped. EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.
For a generation of kids who grew up on Nickelodeon, Kianna Underwood was a familiar face. She appeared in seven episodes of “All That” in 2005, during the final season of the sketch comedy show that helped launch Kenan Thompson. She also voiced Fuchsia Glover on the animated series “Little Bill,” played Little Inez in the first national tour of the Broadway musical “Hairspray,” and appeared in the film “The 24 Hour Woman” alongside Rosie Perez.
Her life after those early roles was far harder. Police said Kianna Underwood had been experiencing homelessness in the years before her death. An employee at a store near the crash site told CBS News New York he would sometimes give her money and food.
Some of the people who knew her from the Nickelodeon years had seen it coming. Former “All That” cast member Angelique Bates said she raised concerns about Underwood back in 2023, posting an Instagram video saying her former castmate needed help. After Kianna Underwood was killed, Bates told CBS News New York that Underwood loved her fans and the show deeply, and would have loved to feel that love returned.
