A Long Island man was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison Wednesday for a fatal collision on the Long Island Expressway in Long Island City in November 2023, which left one of his passengers dead.
Reginald Nash, 26, of Lincoln Avenue in Roosevelt, pleaded guilty in May to aggravated vehicular homicide and assault in the second degree in Queens Supreme Court.
According to the charges and investigation, on Nov. 19, 2023, at approximately 4:30 a.m., Nash was behind the wheel of a 2021 Honda Accord speeding at 89 miles per hour eastbound on the Long Island Expressway when he crashed into a highway attenuator separating the highway from the Greenpoint Avenue exit. After striking the barrier, the Honda spun clockwise and struck a Toyota Rav-4 driven by a 44-year-old man, which spun and hit a Kia Telluride SUV driven by a 51-year-old man. The drivers of the other two vehicles were uninjured.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City arrived on the scene and found the Honda Accord with extensive damage facing the wrong direction. Cameron Mency, 23, a passenger in the Honda, was ejected approximately 90 feet from the car by the impact of the crash. She was found unresponsive lying on the left lane of the highway.
Officers found Nash near the bumper of the vehicle, attending to Giselle Carchi, his 22-year-old fiancée, who was unconscious. Two other passengers in Nash’s car, his sister Tiffany Cox, 36, and Crystal Ramos, 22, were both lying next to the driver’s side of the vehicle. EMS responded to the scene and rushed all four women to Elmhurst Hospital. Mency sustained extensive head and body trauma and was pronounced dead a short while later. Carchi had serious injuries and underwent multiple surgeries to her back. Ramos sustained head and body trauma and underwent surgery for a fractured tibia. She has not regained full mobility. Cox also sustained head and body trauma.
According to the investigation, Nash had a blood alcohol content of .12%, exceeding the legal threshold of.08%.
A search warrant was executed for the vehicle’s black box, which indicated the car was traveling at approximately 89 miles per hour five seconds before the fatal collision and that the brakes had not been engaged.
“The defendant put this terrible course of events in motion when he took the wheel under the influence of alcohol,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “It is imperative to remind every individual they are responsible for their decisions, and this defendant’s reckless conduct led to the loss of one life and life-altering injuries for the surviving passengers.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis sentenced Nash on Wednesday to an indeterminate sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.
