Dad of Nyc Teen Who Drove 101 Mph in a 30 Mph Zone Gets Probation for Helping His Kid Get Into the Bmw That Killed Someone
The father of a teen in New York City was given probation last year for crimes related to the crash that he is accused of causing while driving 101 mph in a 30 mph zone.
As stated in a news release, Sean Smith, 40, was accused of making it easier for his son to get into the 2005 BMW that was involved in the crash on May 17 that killed a 14-year-old passenger.
DA’s office said the driver, who was 16 at the time, had a junior driver’s license and couldn’t drive in New York City without a parent in the car.
The 17-year-old was charged with several crimes, including second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, and careless endangerment. The case is still going on, according to the DA. If he is found guilty of manslaughter, he will spend 15 years in jail.
It wasn’t clear right away if he had made a plea. His agent didn’t answer right away when asked for a comment on Wednesday.
The release says that Smith pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of a child in June and was given three years of probation. A 26-week parenting class and a victim impact program are also on his list of things he has to do.
Deo Ramnarine, the teen’s mother, also pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly behavior in June. She was told to go to parenting class and the victim impact program. The prosecutor’s office said that she can change her plea of guilty if she completes it.
The statement said that after the accident, Smith told police that he had bought the BMW for his son. Smith also told the car’s insurance company that his son had only driven it twice, and that he had been with him both times.
But people at the teen’s school said he drove it all the time, and the report says that the school’s administrator told his parents that he was driving to school.
The teen got a ticket in 2022 for driving without a license and using a cell phone while moving, the DA said.
The crash took place near John F. Kennedy International Airport at 6:38 p.m. on May 17, 2023. The teen was trying to change lanes when he lost control of his BMW. The release says that he hit a parked UPS truck and then spun across the road and hit a tractor-trailer.
Fortune Williams, 14, was riding in the passenger seat of the BMW when it hit the UPS truck. She was thrown out of the car. The DA’s release says she had serious head injuries and was declared dead at the scene.
NBC New York said that she was getting ready for her birthday and a school honor roll event at the time.
“Everything good was in her,” her mother told the station. “She was beautiful, smart, loving, kind, caring, sweet.”
It says that the driver told police that he picked up Fortune at her home and was taking her to his grandmother’s house.
Officials say the UPS worker who was getting into the truck when it was hit was hurt but not seriously.
Representatives for the parents of the teen said they thought the charges were too strong.
Ramnarine’s lawyer, Randall Unger, said, “It’s stretching liability to a point where it could raise real dangers that parents could be held responsible for things they had no idea could happen.”
People asked Unger if Ramnarine knew her son was driving alone with a junior license. Unger replied, “The district attorney says so, and I’m not disputing it.”
James Polk, Smith’s lawyer, wouldn’t say much about the case itself, but he did say that his client had been charged with a crime he wasn’t even there for and didn’t know about.
“That’s far-reaching in my opinion,” he stated. “It gives prosecutors a good deal of power, and I think we should be concerned about that.”
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said he couldn’t answer right away when asked.