Metro

Sultry singer killed

A beautiful Italian jazz singer — who just moved to Manhattan to take her career to the next level — was fatally mowed down by an SUV on the Upper West Side just seconds after getting out of a taxi cab, authorities said yesterday.

Daniela D’Ercole, 32, a striking red-haired vocalist who grew up in rural southern Italy, was struck just before midnight as she crossed Broadway at West 106th Street by a 2002 Mercury.

“She crossed against the light and had an umbrella,” a law-enforcement source said. “She probably didn’t see.”

A video of the grisly accident showed D’Ercole’s body flying across several lanes of traffic.

“She had one eye open, took a deep breath and that was it,” said a doorman nearby. “It seems like she didn’t even see that car coming, it happened so fast.”

D’Ercole was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital.

The SUV driver stayed at the scene and was not charged by police.

The tragedy stunned friends and colleagues who watched in admiration as D’Ercole’s music career began to take off.

“She could have climbed to the top,” said Enrico Granafei, the owner of Trumpets Jazz Club in Montclair, NJ, where D’Ercole performed last month.

“She had all the qualities: the seriousness, the determination, the talent.”

Granafei said that D’Ercole wanted to further her career in New York City and shared a Harlem apartment with her pianist, Albert Pibiri,

“She was such a talent and had come here with such hope,” said Trumpets co-owner, and Granafei’s wife, Kristine Massari.

D’Ercole wrote on her Web site that “I would like my music to give people hope. This is my greatest desire.”