Former NYPD Officer Tyler Paul pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court to criminally negligent homicide and assault for the killing of a highway construction worker while speeding on the Grand Central Parkway in April 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.
Paul, 25, of Jamaica, was off-duty and driving his personal car at a high rate of speed on the Grand Central Parkway on the morning of April 26, 2023. As he made a lane change from left to right, without signaling and while driving between lanes, Paul struck a vehicle in the right lane.
The collision caused Paul to lose control of his vehicle, which then skidded at high speed into Kawan Edwards, 36, of Newark, N.J., who was working as a contractor for the Department of Transportation and standing on the shoulder of the roadway putting up construction signs.
EMS responded to the scene and rushed Edwards to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Police from the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill arrested Paul on March 15, 2024. The NYPD suspended him without pay from his job as a quartermaster at the 32nd Precinct in Harlem, and he was later terminated.
Paul pleaded guilty before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis and will remain out on bail until sentencing on Jan. 23, 2025.
For the criminally negligent homicide charge, Paul will be sentenced to one to three years in prison; for the charge of assault in the second degree, he will be sentenced to three and a half years in prison with three years of post-release supervision and for the charge of assault in the third degree, Paul will be sentenced to 364 days in prison. The sentences will run concurrently, and Paul has waived his right to appeal.
Pursuant to New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, the AG’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a correction officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act of omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or not be in custody or incarcerated. If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.
