Long Island Expressway, Queens · Sunday, November 19, 2023, about 4:30 a.m.
A 26-year-old driver from Roosevelt, Long Island was sentenced in Queens to 7 to 21 years in prison for a three-car crash on the Long Island Expressway that killed a 23-year-old passenger and seriously injured three others.
What happened
According to the Queens District Attorney, Reginald Nash was driving a 2021 Honda Accord east on the LIE near the Greenpoint Avenue exit at about 4:30 a.m. on November 19, 2023. Vehicle data showed he was traveling about 89 miles per hour five seconds before the collision, which involved a Toyota and a Kia. His blood alcohol content was later measured at .12, above the .08 legal limit.
Cameron Mency, 23, a passenger, was ejected about 90 feet and died at the hospital. Three other passengers, including Mr. Nash's sister, were seriously hurt. One needed multiple back surgeries; another suffered head and body trauma and a fractured tibia.
The charges and the result
Mr. Nash was indicted on aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree assault. He pleaded guilty in May 2025, and on July 23, 2025, Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis sentenced him to 7 to 21 years.
What this case shows about Queens DWI law
Aggravated vehicular homicide is the most serious impaired-driving charge in New York, a class B felony. It applies when an impaired driver drives recklessly and causes a death, plus an aggravating factor, such as also seriously injuring someone else. Here, the speed supplied the recklessness and the injuries to the other passengers supplied the aggravating factor. In a case like this the defense focuses on the data recorder, the timing and method of the BAC test, and exactly which injuries the People can prove, because those elements separate one charge from another.
It is also a reminder of where Queens DWI cases happen. The LIE, the Van Wyck, the Grand Central and the Belt Parkway carry a large share of the borough's most serious cases, and many of the drivers charged in Queens live on Long Island.
Related: felony DWI in New York · Nassau County DWI lawyer
This article is drawn from public court filings, official releases and news reports, and is provided for general information only. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt. Every person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case, and nothing here is legal advice.