A Jamaica man pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for causing the death of a Long Island woman and her daughter in a horrific collision near JFK Airport just over a year ago, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Tyrone Absolam, 42, of 133rd Avenue, pleaded guilty Thursday morning, Aug. 4, before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael B. Aloise to aggravated vehicular homicide for the crash that killed 31-year-old Diana Granobles of Copiague and her 10-year-old daughter Isabella.
Katz said that on the night of July 24, 2021, Absolam was driving well above the posted speed limit on Rockaway Boulevard in a 2018 gray Nissan Altima. Granobles was making a left turn at the intersection of Rockaway and Guy R. Brewer Boulevards when Absolam crashed into her gray 2019 Chevy Cruze. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the mother and daughters to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where they were both declared dead.
Katz said the posted speed limit at the crash scene is 35 mph, but Absolam was traveling at 94 mph two seconds before T-boning the victim’s car. Additionally, police administered two standardized field sobriety tests to the defendant and he failed them both. Absolam’s blood alcohol level was .15 — above the legal limit of .08, according to Katz.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant has taken responsibility for the vehicle collision that resulted in the tragic deaths of a mother and her young daughter,” Katz said. “No amount of accountability will heal the pain felt by this loss, but I hope today’s plea and subsequent sentencing will provide a measure of closure for the loved ones of both victims. The defendant now faces prison time and additional security provisions — which includes a revoked license and ignition interlock device — for his reckless actions.”
Justice Aloise ordered the defendant to return to court on Sept. 15, and is expected to sentence Absolam to a term of five to 15 years in prison.
