EAST MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide on Wednesday for a 2023 Long Island crash where four were killed, authorities said.
Michael DeAngelo pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, and assault.
Because DeAngelo has two prior convictions for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he was also charged with felony driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs.
DeAngelo is due back in court for sentencing on June 28 and is expected to be sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison.
According to an investigation, the crash happened at approximately 7:15 p.m. on August 6, 2023 while 60-year-old Patrice Huntley was stopped at a traffic light in his 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe on Sunrise Highway at Unqua Road in East Massapequa.
DeAngelo, impaired by both fentanyl and cocaine, drove his 2023 Hyundai Kona directly into multiple vehicles stopped at the light, prosecutors said.
Huntley’s vehicle was struck with such force that the SUV was pushed through the intersection and spun around so that it was facing oncoming traffic while DeAngelo’s vehicle went airborne and landed upside down.
According to the event data recorder inside the Kona, DeAngelo was driving approximately 120 miles per hour and did not brake until less than a half second before the impact.
DeAngelo struck the victims at approximately 95 miles per hour, officials said.
Huntley, a Marine veteran, had been celebrating a recent job offer and had taken five members of his family out for ice cream at the time of the fatal crash.
Huntley, his 10-year-old son Jeremiah Huntley, and his 13-year-old daughter Hannah Huntley were pronounced dead that same night as a result of the crash.
Huntley’s 18-year-old stepdaughter and six-year-old step-granddaughter, Chantel Solomon, suffered catastrophic injuries. His 14-year-old son was also hurt in the crash.
Solomon died from her injuries six days later.
DeAngelo was observed to have signs of drug use, including track marks on his arm and hands. Needles and a pipe were also discovered in and around his vehicle.
He was transported to Nassau University Medical Center with injuries and was arrested in the hospital on Aug. 11, 2023.
"Michael DeAngelo is one of the most staggeringly reckless defendants I have ever known. Just days before he rocketed his vehicle into Patrice Huntley and his children on Sunrise Highway, DeAngelo was arrested for alleged possession of crack cocaine and separately ran from authorities after being administered Narcan for an apparent overdose," DA Donnelly said.
Photo credit Citizen App "Three days after fleeing from officers, he got behind the wheel of his car, high on a dangerous cocktail of fentanyl and cocaine, pushed the accelerator to 120 miles per hour, and ended the lives of a former Marine and three beautiful children on their way to get ice cream. No sentence will ever be enough to ease the pain of this heartbroken family, their friends, and their community. How many more hearts must break before people learn that drugged driving destroys lives?"
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