Driver charged after two pedestrians killed on Inwood sidewalk
Prosecutors said Leandro Diaz-Ramirez ran a red light at 59 mph before two pedestrians were killed and five motorists were injured at Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street.
What We Know
Police and prosecutors said Leandro Diaz-Ramirez was driving a BMW north on Sherman Avenue at about 4 a.m. when he went through a red light at West 207th Street and collided with a Subaru driver. Prosecutors later alleged he was traveling 59 mph in a 25 mph zone. The impact pushed the Subaru toward parked cars and onto the sidewalk, where Joel Adames, 31, and David Fernandez, 40, were hit and later pronounced dead at hospitals. City crash data recorded two pedestrian deaths and five motorist injuries and listed unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Police arrested Diaz-Ramirez on Sept. 14, and the Manhattan DA later announced manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault charges.
What investigators and prosecutors said happened
City crash data records the Aug. 3, 2022 crash at about 4 a.m. at Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street in Manhattan. The official record lists two pedestrians killed, five motorists injured, a sedan and an SUV involved, and unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
Police and prosecutors said the BMW driver was heading north on Sherman Avenue, went through a red light at high speed and collided with a Subaru driver. Prosecutors later alleged Leandro Diaz-Ramirez was traveling 59 mph in a 25 mph zone. After the collision, the Subaru was pushed into parked cars and onto the sidewalk, where Joel Adames and David Fernandez were hit.
Two men died and several others were injured
Police identified the pedestrians as Joel Adames, 31, who lived nearby on Isham Street, and David Fernandez, 40, of the Bronx. Paramedics took Adames to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital and Fernandez to Harlem Hospital, where both were pronounced dead.
News accounts reported five additional injuries. The New York Post, citing FDNY, reported that three people suffered serious injuries; prosecutors later said the assault charges included injuries to the Subaru driver, who suffered broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
The criminal case centered on speed and a red light
Police arrested Leandro Diaz-Ramirez on Sept. 14, more than a month after the crash. The Manhattan district attorney later announced an indictment charging him with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. His attorney declined to comment through a Legal Aid Society spokesperson.
The official vehicle record for the BMW lists unsafe speed and traffic control disregarded as contributing factors. The official record also describes the Subaru as an SUV traveling west, while Gothamist reported police said the Subaru was southbound and making a left turn. Those accounts differ on the Subaru driver's movement before the collision.
The official record lists moving and parked vehicles
The official crash record lists a 2012 BMW sedan with three occupants traveling north and a 2003 Subaru SUV with two occupants traveling west. It also lists three parked vehicles with no occupants: a 2012 Smart sedan, a 2013 Honda SUV and a 2007 Mercedes sedan.
Press accounts described the collision as involving a BMW driver and a Subaru driver, followed by damage to parked vehicles and the sidewalk. Both drivers stayed at the scene, according to police reports cited by news outlets.
Sherman Avenue has remained a high-crash corridor
The crash happened at Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street in Inwood, Manhattan.
CrashCountNYC location context for Sherman Avenue in Manhattan shows 239 crashes, 136 injuries, eight serious injuries and two deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Advocates pointed to red-light camera limits
After the crash, Transportation Alternatives called for Albany to lift the state cap on New York City's red-light camera program. Gothamist reported that state law allowed cameras at only 150 signalized intersections citywide and that the ZIP code where the crash occurred had no red-light cameras.