[ad_1]
Suffolk County prosecutors charged Uber driver with manslaughter on Monday following the death of a 15-year-old boy from Cold Spring Harbor, who fell from the roof of the driver's car while he "overrated on a car" in September.
Danyal Cheema, 24, of Huntington Station, faces a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in jail when he is convicted, said Timothy Sini, Suffolk County Attorney, at a news conference. press conference held soon after Cheema pleaded not guilty on Monday in the 1st district court. Central Islip.
The death of Ryan Mullen, a student at St. Anthony High School, may be the result of a tragic accident, but Sini said the charge of manslaughter was appropriate because the case involved a death.
"The defendant took an imprudent decision and engaged in reckless driving resulting in the death of a young boy, and he will be held responsible," Sini said.
Under the law, second-degree manslaughter means neglecting an obvious risk and causing death due to irresponsible behavior.
Ryan's mother, Janice Mullen, said in an interview Monday with WABC Eyewitness News: "There was an adult present and the adult should have said" No, it's a bad decision . You are not allowed to do it. "Ryan's father, Matthew, asked," What if the driver was responsible enough to say no? "
Judge Jennifer A. Henry fixed Cheema's bail at $ 200,000 in cash or $ 400,000. It is expected that he will return to court on Friday.
Cheema's lawyer, Christopher Renfroe, testified in court that his client had expressed remorse for Mullen's death and that he had no previous criminal record. Cheema's family attended Monday's appearance, but declined to speak to reporters. Renfroe also declined to comment and did not return a subsequent Newsday call.
A spokeswoman for Uber said the company was cooperating with an ongoing investigation by the District Attorney's Office and the Suffolk County Police.
Sini said Mullen had attended several parties in the Cold Spring Harbor area before he and two friends, both 16, contacted Uber. Sini said Mullen and his friends were drinking and the investigators are trying to figure out how the teens got the alcohol.
The boys first offered Cheema $ 70 to allow two of them to climb to the top of his 2010 Toyota Highlander, while the third recorded a video. They withdrew their offer, however, after deciding that $ 70 was too much, but then they offered Cheema $ 40 if it allowed them to surf by car.
Mullen and another boy climbed onto the roof of Cheema's Toyota while the third teenager filmed them on Snapchat, a social media site. Mullen fell from the Highlander while he was heading on Cove Road in Huntington early on the morning of September 23, hitting his head on the sidewalk. He had a fractured skull, said Sini.
Mullen went home and died in his sleep later in the morning.
"The cause of death was the force of blunt trauma to the head," said Sini.
St. Anthony's senior brother, Gary Cregan, said in a statement: "Ryan, his family and friends remain in our daily thoughts and prayers,"
According to the Centers for Disease Control, surfing by car involves getting on top of or outside of a moving vehicle driven by another person. Fifty-eight people, mostly young men aged 15 to 19, died of car-surfing in 1990 to 2008, the CDC reported in 2008.
Sini said he did not believe that surfing cars had become fashionable among Long Island teens, but he feared that social media would encourage young people to take insane risks.
"We currently have a culture where the state of mind is:" How can we surpass ourselves? "Especially among the youth of social networks, and we often see the tragic consequences," said Sini. "A lot of young people think they are invincible and that's something we have to keep constantly on our heads: it could happen to anyone if you engage in this kind of behavior."
Last year, a Westbury man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a similar case, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Madeline Singas. Singas said that Herbie McLeod knew that two teenage girls were sitting on the trunk of his BMW when he took a quick acceleration to New Cassel in July 2015. Both girls fell off the car and landed on the street. One of the girls, Sabrina Paul, died as a result of a broken skull and swelling of the brain.
McLeod pleaded guilty to manslaughter, arrest and assault last year, and was sentenced to between four and eight years in prison. A spokeswoman for Sini's office said prosecutors in Suffolk were not aware of similar cases in the county.
A spokeswoman for Uber said in an email: "The words can not describe how much we are troubled by this incident. Our thoughts are with the runner's family during this difficult time. This driver has been permanently removed from the application. "
Source link
