Father and Mother of Unlicensed Teen Driver Sentenced for Role in 14-year-old’s Death Following Speeding BMW Crash
Last year, a 14-year-old girl from New York City was killed after being flung from a friend’s speeding BMW.
The parents of the unlicensed teen driver have now been punished in a case that, according to the Queens District Attorney, demonstrates that “the culpability in a fatal crash can go beyond the driver.”
The juvenile driver’s father, Sean Smith, 40, and mother, Deo Ramnarine, 43, both pleaded guilty to endangering a child last month, according to authorities. Ramnarine also pled guilty to disorderly conduct.
On Monday, the father was sentenced to three years probation and ordered, among other things, to attend a 26-week parenting class. In addition to other criteria, the mother must participate in the parenting program, which, if completed, will allow her to withdraw her guilty plea to child endangerment.
According to prosecutors, just after 6:30 p.m. on that fateful May 2023 evening, the young driver — who was 16 at the time and whose name has not been disclosed because he is a minor — was driving a red 2005 BMW along North Conduit Avenue at 101 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone.
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Fortune Williams, his friend, was seated in the passenger seat alongside him on the way to his grandmother’s house.
Losing control of the vehicle, the adolescent crashed into a UPS truck, spinning his automobile across the road and colliding with a driving tractor-trailer, according to prosecutors.
Fortune crashed through the glass and into the rear of the UPS truck, suffering significant head damage, according to prosecutors, who said she died at the scene.
According to authorities, a UPS employee was climbing into his truck when the BMW collided with it. He was flung on the ground and treated for injuries.
According to prosecutors, the teen’s father told police in the hospital room with his minorly injured son that he had purchased the BMW — registered in his name — for his son, who prosecutors allege only had a junior driver’s license, which prohibited him from driving in New York City “under any circumstances.”
“Parents who provide vehicles to their children and allow them to drive illegally can be held accountable in the event of tragedies like this one,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement announcing the sentencing of both parents.
Fortune’s friends and relatives, who, as previously reported, created a GoFundMe in her name following the incident, described her as “an absolute delight of a child.”
The 14-year-old was described as “well-mannered, hardworking, and very caring toward her siblings,” as well as “full of teenage wit and a youthful glamour only she could carry.”
According to the fundraising page that has since been removed, she had a passion for fashion and enjoyed assisting her mother in the kitchen. She hoped to one day work in medicine.
Three weeks after the collision, the driver’s father told the car’s insurer that his son, whom he described as a skilled driver, had only driven the BMW twice before and that he had always accompanied him on the drives.
According to prosecutors, individuals at the teen’s school “saw him regularly driving the same BMW,” and a school supervisor informed the parents about the teen driving to school.
According to authorities, the teenager was also charged with driving without a license and using a portable electronic device.
The teen, now 17, was arraigned in December on a slew of charges connected to the crash, including second-degree manslaughter, three counts of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving, driving more than the maximum speed limit, unsafe lane change on a roadway laned for traffic, making an unlawful turn, two counts of operating a motor vehicle with tinted windows, operating
Prosecutors said he may face up to 15 years in jail if convicted on the highest count. It wasn’t immediately obvious who he had hired as an attorney.