By The newspaper
Jun 20, 2024, 01:06 AM EDT
Dante Lennon was sentenced to between 6 and 18 years in prison for driving drunk, killing three female relatives and injuring their spouses in a crash on Long Island (NY).
The accident happened when the victims had just left a “Sweet 16” party on the night of May 21, 2022. Lennon was drunk and driving around 70 mph when his Mercedes Benz collided with the group’s Lincoln car and another vehicle parked in New Hyde Park, causing the deaths of Ho Hua (68), Tu Nguyen (41) and Marlene Lu (66).
Lennon had pleaded guilty in March of this year to aggravated vehicular manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, assault and driving while intoxicated. On Monday the 23-year-old broke down emotionally in court and apologized to the family, he described ABCNews.
“A ‘Sweet 16’ party should be a cherished memory for the family, but because of this defendant’s reckless and callous disregard for other motorists, it will be remembered as an incredible tragedy,” Nassau County District Attorney said in March. Anne T. Donnelly. “In an instant, three members of a family were lost and three others were injured when Dante Lennon, drunk and speeding, crashed into their Town Car.”
In a similar case, also on Monday in the same Nassau County on Long Island, a man was sentenced after pleading guilty to driving drunk and causing an accident that claimed the lives of Dominican husbands Ismenia and Odalis Ureña in 2023.
The authorities remember that there is zero tolerance for drivers who drive at excess speed and/or under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also frequent protagonists of road accidents, as victims and perpetrators, when riding on sidewalks, disrespecting traffic lights and even the direction of the streets.
In May, a 71-year-old Puerto Rican grandmother died after being hit by a driver fleeing the police in Brooklyn (NYC), leaving the scene by getting on the subway. Her daughter was injured. Ironically, just hours before, Governor Kathy Hochul had signed the so-called Sammy’s Law that reduces the speed limit to 20 mph and even 10 mph on some streets in the five boroughs of NYC to protect pedestrians. So far this year more than 40 people have been run over in the city.
In December, Governor Hochul signed “Angelica’s Law,” intended to keep drivers with prior suspensions off the road by charging repeat offenders who operate vehicles after committing five or more traffic violations that resulted in suspensions with a felony. or revocations.
- 2024 is the deadliest year on New York asphalt since the creation of Vision Zero to prevent deaths