NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – An MTA bus driver was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for a 2022 Long Island crash that killed one person, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Tuesday.
Donnell Hill, 52, pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, to aggravated vehicular homicide, assault, aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child, and driving while intoxicated.
According to the charges, at approximately 10:36 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2022, Hill was driving his blue 2018 Dodge Charger while intoxicated, eastbound on Jerusalem Avenue towards Ingraham Boulevard in Hempstead with four passengers.
According to the crash data recorder, just five seconds before the crash Hill was driving at 97 miles an hour and not engaging the brake. The speed limit on Jerusalem Avenue at that location is 30 miles per hour.
Hill the lost control of his vehicle, crossed over the westbound lanes of travel, and crashed into a tree at approximately 49 miles per hour, DA Donnelly said.
Investigators said Hill also drove his car in a "doughnut" pattern at least twice on a public roadway just before the crash.
Rear passenger Xavier Parris, 26, was ejected from the vehicle and suffered extensive injuries. He was later pronounced dead at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital.
Two of the other three vehicle passengers, including Hill’s then 13-year-old son, were treated for various injuries at Nassau University Medical Center.
Hill had a BAC of .13% approximately two hours after the collision and was arrested at the scene, DA Donnelly said.
"Donnell Hill was an MTA bus driver for more than ten years, responsible for the lives of countless passengers along his routes. But on October 29, 2022, any sense of duty clearly did not extend to his personal life, when the defendant recklessly sped down Jerusalem Avenue at more than three times the speed limit while heavily intoxicated and crashed his high-powered Dodge Charger into a tree. The impact killed a 26-year-old man and injured the defendant’s own son," DA Donnelly said. "Xavier Parris had his whole life ahead of him. A charismatic young man who was loved by his Uniondale community. We hope that today’s prison sentence brings some solace to Xavier’s many family members and friends who continue to mourn his loss."