By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Friday that a grand jury has indicted Reginald Nash in connection with a high-speed, three-car collision last month on the Long Island Expressway that left one of his passengers dead and two others unable to walk.
Nash, 24, of Roosevelt, L.I., has been charged in a 15-count indictment with aggravated vehicular homicide; aggravated vehicular assault; manslaughter in the second degree; vehicular manslaughter in the second degree; vehicular assault in the first degree; two counts of vehicular assault in the second degree; three counts of assault in the second degree; operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; operating motor vehicle while under influence of alcohol; reckless driving; operating a motor vehicle with a tinted window; and speeding.
According to the charges:
On Nov. 19, at approximately 4:30 a.m., Nash was driving a 2021 Honda Accord eastbound on the Long Island Expressway when he crashed into a cushion separating the highway from the Greenpoint Avenue exit. After hitting the barrier, the Honda spun and struck a Toyota. The Toyota, in turn, spun and hit a Kia.
Police officers responding to the scene saw that Honda Accord had suffered extensive damage and was facing in the wrong direction. Cameron Mency, 23, a passenger in the Honda, was observed lying in the left lane of the highway approximately 90 feet from the car. She was unresponsive.
Officers also observed Nash near the bumper of the vehicle attending to Giselle Carchi, his 22-year-old fiancée, who was unconscious.
Two other passengers in Nash’s car—his sister Tiffany Cox, 36, and Crystal Ramos, 22—were both lying next to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
All four women were rushed to local hospitals. Mency sustained extensive head and body trauma and was later pronounced dead. Carchi underwent multiple surgeries to her back and has since been discharged. She is currently unable to walk because of her injuries. Ramos sustained head and body trauma and underwent surgery for a fractured tibia and is wheelchair bound. Cox also sustained head and body trauma. She was subsequently discharged.
Nash allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .12 percent, exceeding the legal threshold of .08 percent. The vehicle’s tinted front driver’s side window allegedly had a light transmittance of 3 percent, below the legal threshold of 70 percent.
A search warrant was executed for the vehicle’s black box which indicated the car was traveling at approximately 89 miles per hour five seconds prior to the collision and that the brakes had not been engaged.
“When drivers make the selfish choice of getting behind the wheel after drinking, they not only put their own lives at risk, but they endanger their passengers and anyone sharing the road with them as well. When such reckless behavior is coupled with speeding, tragedy is often the result,” Katz said. “We cannot reverse what happened in this case, but we will make sure that there is accountability for the senseless loss of life and the pain and suffering inflicted.”
If convicted, Nash faces up to 25 years in prison.
