The Lengthy Island teen accused of driving the wrong-way on the Henry Hudson Parkway and killing a person 24 hours earlier than the sufferer’s marriage ceremony was allegedly drunk and being chased by an off-duty NYPD cop on the time of the crash.
Jimmy Connors had allegedly spent the night time consuming at Nebula on West forty first Avenue, the place workers served him alcohol regardless of him being “visibly intoxicated” within the hours earlier than the horrific Aug. 24 collision, in accordance with a lawsuit.
After Connors, 17, left the membership, he allegedly acquired behind the wheel of a white Chevy Silverado with Ontario plates and crashed into one other automobile — prompting off-duty cop Boubacar Barry, who witnessed the wreck, to pursue him in his private SUV as an alternative of calling 911, in accordance with the Manhattan Supreme Court docket submitting.
Each autos then barreled south within the northbound lanes of the parkway, the place the Silverado slammed head-on right into a automobile pushed by Kirk Walker and his cousin, Rob McLaurin, authorities mentioned.
Walker, 38, was in the future from his marriage ceremony when he and McLaurin had been killed.
Walker and McLaurin had simply left the groom-to-be’s bachelor social gathering and had been driving north close to West 154th Avenue in a Dodge Challenger when the two:20 a.m. crash occurred, mentioned Walker’s fiancée, Shauntea Weaver, who filed the lawsuit this week in opposition to Connors, Barry, Nebula, the NYPD and the town.
Connors fled after the wreck, forsaking his injured 21-year-old passenger. Police mentioned the passenger tried to run however was caught 30 toes away.
Mayor Eric Adams even put up $1,000 of his personal cash to assist catch the suspect.
Connors, of Syosset, was nabbed the subsequent day on the Canadian border, limping, bloodied and with out ID. Customs brokers recognized him utilizing NYPD photographs that allegedly confirmed him bolting from the crash.
He was taken again to New York and indicted on costs together with second-degree homicide, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly crash. He pleaded not responsible.
His legal professional Jonathan Perez beforehand advised The Submit that Connors is “sick, autistic, has epilepsy” and believes he was manipulated by another person within the automobile.
Connors has been held with out bail since his arraignment, the Manhattan District Lawyer’s workplace mentioned.
Walker, a Manhattan father of three and rental-car-business proprietor, was set to marry Weaver in a lavish New Jersey ceremony.
“Kirk was taken from me simply as we had been beginning our new life collectively,” Weaver mentioned in an announcement launched by means of her attorneys to The Submit. “He was the love of my life … We’ve been left attempting to choose up the items of our lives and are available to phrases with a future with out him in it. Our lives won’t ever be the identical.”
Weaver, now the administrator of Walker’s property, argued in courtroom papers that Barry acted as a cop — not a civilian — making the town and NYPD chargeable for the unauthorized chase, which she contends isn’t lined by emergency-response legal guidelines.
Nebula additionally violated the state’s Dram Store Act, which permits victims to sue bars that serve alcohol to underage or visibly intoxicated patrons who later trigger hurt, Weaver mentioned within the authorized submitting.
Weaver is searching for unspecified damages for wrongful demise, aware ache and struggling, negligence, emotional and psychological loss, funeral bills and punitive damages.
The NYPD and Nebula didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Workplace referred inquiries to the NYPD.
Connors and Barry couldn’t be reached for remark.
