Driver sentenced after fatal Long Island Expressway crash
June, two days
Reginald Nash was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison after a 4:29 a.m. Long Island Expressway crash on November 19, 2023, killed passenger Cameron Mency and injured three other women.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Reginald Nash was driving east on the Long Island Expressway early on November 19, 2023, when he drove into a crash cushion near the Greenpoint Avenue exit, according to investigators. His Honda Accord spun into a Toyota RAV4, which then made contact with a Kia Telluride. Cameron Mency, 23, was ejected from Nash's car and died; three other passengers were critically injured. Prosecutors said Nash had been driving 89 mph. He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree assault and was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison.
A collision involving three drivers
Police said Nash drove his Honda Accord into a crash cushion, then spun into a Toyota RAV4 driven by a 44-year-old man. The Toyota subsequently made contact with a Kia Telluride driven by a 51-year-old man. The official record places the crash at 4:29 a.m. and records one death and three injuries.
Near the Greenpoint Avenue exit
The drivers were traveling east on the Long Island Expressway in Queens. A crash cushion separates the roadway from the Greenpoint Avenue exit; investigators said Nash drove into it before the subsequent collisions.
Cameron Mency and the other passengers
A loss felt in her neighborhood
Cameron Mency, 23, lived in North Baldwin, Long Island. The Mency family was well known in its tight-knit neighborhood, and a neighbor felt her death as though he had lost one of his own.
Three women critically injured
Three other women riding with Nash, two age 22 and one age 36, were taken from the crash in critical condition. Police said all three drivers were uninjured.
What investigators reported
The official crash record identifies alcohol involvement and driver inattention or distraction as factors for Nash's sedan. Prosecutors later said he had been driving 89 mph before he drove into the crash cushion.
Charges and sentence
Police initially charged Nash with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. He later pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree assault, and a judge sentenced him in July 2025 to seven to 21 years in prison.