Kia driver sentenced after Bushwick crash kills passenger
Every Room
Christopher Seabrook drove a Kia into a Toyota at Irving Avenue and Stockholm Street on Jan. 8, 2024, killing rear-seat passenger Hayden Wallace and injuring three other people.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Prosecutors said Christopher Seabrook drove a Kia Sportage at high speed south on Irving Avenue and collided with a Toyota Yaris crossing Stockholm Street on Jan. 8, 2024. The impact sent the Toyota into parked vehicles. Hayden Wallace, 29, riding in the Toyota's right rear seat, died; its three other occupants were seriously injured. Seabrook fled on foot, prosecutors said. Wallace had recently moved from Texas and worked as an American Airlines gate agent at Kennedy Airport. Seabrook later pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault and leaving the scene, and was sentenced to up to six years in prison.
The collision and its impact
At about 12:45 a.m., Seabrook drove a Kia Sportage south on Irving Avenue while a Toyota Yaris traveled through the intersection on Stockholm Street. Prosecutors said Seabrook was speeding when he collided with the Toyota, sending it into multiple parked vehicles.
Wallace was riding in the Toyota's right rear seat. He died, and the Toyota's three other occupants suffered serious injuries, including fractures and internal injuries that required surgeries and lengthy hospital stays, prosecutors said.
Irving Avenue and Stockholm Street
The crash happened at Irving Avenue and Stockholm Street in Bushwick. The Kia was traveling south on Irving Avenue, and the Toyota was traveling east on Stockholm Street.
After the crash, neighbor Geovany Carbeallo told CBS New York that drivers approaching the intersection often traveled fast and that a blind spot made it difficult to see them.
Hayden Wallace's new life in Brooklyn
Wallace, 29, had recently moved from Texas and found work as an American Airlines gate agent at Kennedy Airport. He traveled frequently and was spending the night with new friends, the Daily News reported.
His aunt, Kippy Perkins, said he was excited about meeting people in the gay community. His mother, Audri Cannon, made a photo journal of his life to share with the prosecutor handling the case.
The drivers and the criminal cases
Prosecutors said Seabrook left the Kia and fled on foot before emergency responders arrived. Investigators arrested him in February 2025.
Police also arrested Toyota driver Jorge Sanchez de Lozada Haiek after the crash and charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Seabrook's sentence
Seabrook pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting. In May 2026, he was sentenced to up to six years in prison.