The District Attorney of Queens, New York, announced Monday that her office sentenced a couple to parenting classes after their son was charged in the death of his 14-year-old friend.
Authorities sentenced Sean Smith and Deo Ramnarine after pleading guilty to charges involving their 16-year-old son allegedly driving their car without a license. The son crashed the car in Queens on May 17, 2023, leaving 14-year-old Fortune Williams dead, according to the DA office’s press release.
The teen, who was driving a BMW, lost control of the vehicle and ultimately slammed into the back of a parked UPS truck, the DA said.
Due to the impact, the BMW “spun across the roadway and struck a tractor-trailer traveling westbound,” the release continued. “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.”
NYC couple sentenced to parenting class after girl killed by unlicensed son’s crash at 101 mph https://t.co/c3WNfvGgbM pic.twitter.com/ifZRZQQ1Hx
— New York Post (@nypost) July 22, 2024
Smith, the driver’s father, pleaded guilty to charges of endangering a child’s welfare in June and was sentenced to three years probation Monday. His sentencing also includes a required 26-week-long parenting class. (RELATED: Judge Punishes Human Trafficker With Possibly Longest Sentence Ever Handed Down, FBI Says).
Ramnarine, the teen boy’s mother, also pleaded guilty to endangering a child and disorderly conduct and was additionally sentenced to the 26-week-long course, according to the DA.
Both parents are also required to attend the Victim Impact Panel Program, the release said. Ramnarine has the opportunity to withdraw her plea of endangering a child if she completes both the class and attends the panel, the DA said.
“With this conviction, we have shown that the culpability in a fatal crash can go beyond the driver. Parents who provide vehicles to their children and let them drive illegally can be held responsible in the case of tragedies such as this one,” DA Melinda Katz said in the press release. “We will continue to seek justice for Fortune Williams and her grieving family.”
The now 17-year-old driver faces an array of charges, including second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment of a child and operating a vehicle without a license, the release noted. His case remains ongoing and, if convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison, the DA said.
