Teen Passenger Killed in High-Speed Queens Crash
A 14-year-old passenger was killed and two people were injured at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street on May 17, 2023, after prosecutors said a 16-year-old driver drove a BMW at more than 100 mph in a 30 mph zone.
What We Know
On May 17, 2023, a 14-year-old front-seat passenger was killed at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street in Queens. The city crash record lists a westbound 2005 BMW sedan, a parked UPS truck and a tractor truck in the collision, with two people injured. Prosecutors later said the BMW driver was 16, had only a learner's permit, and was driving more than 100 mph in a 30 mph zone before losing control while changing lanes. Later reporting said the teen driver pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and other charges and was sentenced in 2025 to up to four years in prison.
A teen driver was moving west before the fatal impact
The city crash record lists the crash at 6:38 p.m. on May 17, 2023, at North Conduit Avenue and 160 Street in Queens. It records one person killed and two injured; the person killed was a 14-year-old female front-seat passenger in a westbound 2005 BMW sedan.
Queens prosecutors later said the driver was 16, had only a learner's permit, and was driving illegally. Prosecutors said he was traveling more than 100 mph in a 30 mph zone, lost control while changing lanes, hit a parked UPS truck, then crossed the roadway and hit a tractor-trailer.
Early accounts based on police sources did not line up fully on the first contact. The Daily News reported that, after the driver tried to pass a white box truck, the sedan was clipped before the driver hit the parked UPS truck; prosecutors later described the teen driver hitting the parked UPS truck before the sedan crossed into a tractor-trailer.
Fortune Williams was ejected and died at the scene
Police identified the 14-year-old passenger as Fortune Williams. The Post reported that responding officers found her in the street with severe head trauma and that she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teen driver was taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to early police reporting. Gothamist later reported that prosecutors said he told police he had picked up Williams at her home and was taking her to his grandmother's house.
Investigators focused on speed, inexperience and licensing
The city record assigns driver inexperience as the crash-level contributing factor and lists unsafe speed for the BMW driver's vehicle.
The Queens district attorney's office said the teenage driver had only a learner's permit and had been ticketed for driving without a license about six months before the crash.
North Conduit Avenue has a long crash record
The crash happened at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street in Springfield Gardens, Queens.
CrashCountNYC's corridor context for North Conduit Avenue in Queens records 1,214 crashes, 883 injuries, 46 serious injuries and 5 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
A guilty plea and prison sentence followed
Early reports said no charges had been filed immediately after the crash and that the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
Gothamist reported that the teenage driver later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and other charges. In August 2025, a Queens judge sentenced him to up to four years in prison and granted him youthful offender status.
Gothamist also reported that Sean Smith and Deo Ramnarine, identified by prosecutors as the driver's parents, were sentenced on child endangerment charges in connection with the crash and were required to attend parenting classes.