Two Queens parents were sentenced Monday for allowing their unlicensed 16-year-old son to drive a car, leading to a violent crash that killed a 14-year-old girl.
Sean Smith, 40, and Deo Ramnarine, 43, were both sentenced to attend 26 weeks of parenting class and a Victim Impact Panel Program for endangering the welfare of a child, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced in a press release. Smith was also given three years of probation.
Smith and Ramnarine’s teenage son was behind the wheel of a 2005 BMW 325i on May 17, 2023, according to police. Fortune Williams, 14, was riding in the passenger seat.
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The boy, whose name has been withheld due to his age, was driving 101 mph on N. Conduit Ave. near 160th St. in Queens when he lost control of the vehicle, investigators said. The car slammed into the back of a parked UPS truck, spun across the road and struck a tractor-trailer. The speed limit on the road is 30 mph.
Williams was ejected from the car and into the UPS truck upon impact, according to investigators. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I felt like I died at the same time,” her mother, Kiesha Francis, told the Daily News after the crash. “My life will never be the same without my daughter.”
The teenage driver escaped with only minor injuries. The UPS truck driver suffered serious leg and facial injuries, cops said.
At the time, the boy had only a junior driver’s license, meaning he was prohibited from driving anywhere in New York City, according to prosecutors.
In November 2022, six months before the wreck, school officials warned the teen’s parents that he’d been spotted driving to school. He was also ticketed that month for driving without a license, authorities said.
“With this conviction, we have shown that the culpability in a fatal crash can go beyond the driver,” Katz said. “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.”
The teenager, now 17, remains charged with numerous crimes, with the top charge being second-degree manslaughter for the death of Williams.
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