QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) ---- A teen driver and his parents were charged after a 14-year-old passenger died in a vehicle-splitting crash in Queens earlier this year, authorities said Wednesday.
The unlicensed driver, then 16, was going 101 mph in a 30 mph zone when he crashed his red BMW into a parked UPS truck near North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street on May 17, prosecutors said.
The vehicle then spun out and hit a tractor-trailer, causing the BMW to split in half, officials said. The passenger, Fortune Williams, was ejected from the BMW after impact, authorities said.
Williams suffered a severe head injury and died at the scene. A UPS worker was taken to the hospital with a leg injury and cuts to his face and chest, officials said. The employee has been out of work since the accident.
The driver, now, 17, was charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless driving; driving in excess of the maximum speed limit, operating or driving a motor vehicle without a license, and operating a motor vehicle in violation of a restricted permit or license, and other charges at his arraignment Tuesday, officials said. The teen faces 15 years in prison.
The defendant had a permit to drive but was required to be accompanied by an adult. There were no adults in the car at the time of the collision, leading authorities to charge his parents, Deo Ramnarine, 43, and Sean Smith, 39, with endangering the welfare of a child and permitting unlicensed operation, prosecutors said.
“We will argue that the horrific car crash that took Fortune Williams’ young life was the result of recklessness and negligence, not only on the part of the minor behind the wheel, but the adults who put him in the driver’s seat," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
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