Overview
- Daniel Hyden was found guilty of four counts of second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, and multiple assault charges for the 2024 Lower East Side crash.
- The verdict was delivered by Justice April Newbauer after a roughly two-week bench trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
- Prosecutors presented evidence that he was intoxicated, accelerated through a stop sign and construction zone, reached up to 54 mph, and braked only half a second before impact.
- Four people were killed — Lucille Pinkney, Herman Pinkney, Ana Morel, and Emily Ruiz — and seven others were injured, with Ruiz pronounced dead five days later according to the DA.
- Witnesses stopped Hyden from fleeing by removing the truck’s key, and earlier that evening he had been denied entry to a Pier 36 party boat for appearing intoxicated.