An early morning crash on the Southern State Parkway Sunday killed two and critically injured three others, including the driver, New York State police said.
The tragic one-car accident occurred just before 6 a.m. on the westbound side of the Southern State Parkway in North Merrick, police said.
Troopers responded after receiving reports of a car in the trees on the north shoulder of the parkway, just east of the Meadowbrook State Parkway, police said.
State police said 30-year-old Kervens Boutin of Hempstead was driving a Nissan Maxima westbound with four passengers when he lost control of the car and slammed into several trees.
Two passengers—Bryan Rivas, 20, and Blossom Castro, 22, both of Hempstead—were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Boutin and another passenger, 19-year-old Bronx resident Marlo Cabrera, were transported to Nassau University Medical Center in critical condition. As of Monday morning, both were still in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The other passenger, 22-year-old Antonio Rivas of Hempstead, was transported to Winthrop-University Hospital and is still in critical condition, according to a hospital spokesman.
Boutin was charged with reckless driving. Police said additional charges are pending the outcome of the investigation.
The deadly crash comes three months after four people were killed on the Southern State Parkway when the driver, Joseph Beer, crashed near Exit 17. Beer was indicted in November and charged with vehicular manslaughter, among other charges. Prosecutors alleged that he was speeding while high on drugs when the crash occurred.
Anyone who may have witnessed Sunday’s accident is asked to call State Police at 631-756-3300.
