This NY case answers the question: Can Parents Be Criminally Charged for Their Son Causing his Passenger’s Death?
An 18-year-old was sentenced to 1 1/3 to four years in prison for causing the death of Fortune Williams, a 14-year-old passenger in the BMW he was driving when he was 16 years old. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the second degree, assault in the second and third degrees, reckless endangerment in the second degree, reckless driving and numerous vehicle and traffic violations. He was granted youthful offender status.
This was a landmark case where both an unlicensed teenage driver and his parents were held responsible for the driver’s deadly actions. He was operating a BMW given to him by his parents – despite having no legal authority to drive – when he crashed and killed his passenger.
The defendant was driving a 2005 BMW 325i in Queens, New York at a speed calculated at 101 miles per hour. The posted speed limit on the street is 30 miles per hour. He lost control of the vehicle when attempting to move from the left-center lane to the right-center lane and crashed into the back of a parked UPS truck. After hitting the truck, the BMW spun across the roadway and struck a tractor-trailer traveling westbound.
As a result of the initial collision, Williams was ejected from the front passenger seat of the BMW into the back of the UPS truck. She suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene. A UPS employee, who was entering his truck as the BMW collided with it, was thrown to the ground in the collision. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for a large hematoma to his leg, a laceration to his face and a bruise to his chest.
The defendant’s father told police that while the BMW was registered in his name, he had bought the vehicle for the defendant. The defendant had a junior driver’s license, which prohibited him from driving under any circumstances in New York City.
Three weeks after the fatal crash, the defendant’s father told the car insurer that his son had driven the BMW approximately twice with him in the vehicle and that his son was a good driver. Prior to the fatal collision, witnesses from the defendant’s school saw him regularly driving the same BMW and a school administrator informed the parents that their son was driving to school. The defendant was previously ticketed for driving without a license and driving while using a portable electronic device (cellphone)
The defendant’s parents were sentenced on endangering the welfare of a child charges for giving their son access to the car when he was legally unable to drive the vehicle. It was believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in New York state. The defendant’s father pleaded guilty and sentenced to three years of probation. As a condition of the sentence, he was required to participate in a 26-week parenting class and attend the Victim Impact Panel Program. The defendant’s mother was sentenced to a 26-week parenting class and to attend the Victim Impact Panel Program. She successfully completed both and was allowed to withdraw her plea to endangering the welfare of a child with only a disorderly conduct charge remaining.
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