Daniel Hyden was sentenced to 24 years to life after a crash that killed four at a Lower East Side park.
Bracelets
Daniel Hyden drove into a Fourth of July barbecue at Corlears Hook Park, leaving four people dead; the crash record places the collision at 8:52 p.m. on July 4, 2024, at Water and Jackson streets in Manhattan.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police said Hyden drove through a stop sign, jumped a curb and went through a fence into a gathering at Corlears Hook Park; prosecutors later said he was traveling more than 50 mph and did not brake until half a second before impact. The crash record counts four pedestrians killed and eight people injured. A jury convicted Hyden of second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and assault, and a judge sentenced him to 24 years to life in January 2026.
Police and prosecutors described the approach differently.
Police said Hyden drove through a stop sign, jumped a curb and went through a fence into the gathering. Prosecutors later said he was traveling more than 50 mph and did not brake until half a second before impact.
The crash record counts four pedestrians killed and eight people injured, including seven pedestrians and one motorist. Gothamist, citing prosecutors, reported that seven other people were injured.
The crash reached a neighborhood gathering.
The crash occurred at Water Street and Jackson Street in Manhattan. Press reports place the barbecue inside Corlears Hook Park, near the Vladeck Houses. Gothamist reported that Lucille Pinkney and her son lived nearby and that Emily Ruiz also lived at the housing complex, tying the gathering and its losses to the surrounding Lower East Side community.
The victims were part of families and a close neighborhood.
Those killed were Lucille Pinkney, 59; her son, 38; Ana Morel, 43; and Emily Ruiz, 30. Gothamist and a July 5 Post report name Lucille's son Herman, while the Daily News spells his name Hernan; a January 2026 Post account spells Lucille's name Lucile.
Diamond Pinkney told the Post that Lucille was his mother and the 38-year-old man was his brother. He was home when the crash happened and said neighbors called his family members' names. “My family was very well known here. Everybody knows us,” he said.
Morel's mother told the Post that Ana had undergone brain surgery, was on disability and sometimes had difficulty leaving home. She said Ana was happy at the party with a friend and had a 25-year-old son.
Ruiz's grandmother told the Post that Ruiz's six-year-old son ran to get a first-aid kit after his mother was hurt. Accounts differ on how long Ruiz survived: the July 20 Post report says she died four days after the crash, CBS says she died Tuesday after hospitalization, and two 2026 reports describe five days on life support.
An early Post account said the Pinkneys and Morel were declared dead at Bellevue Hospital. CBS later reported that the Pinkneys were pronounced dead on July 4 and Morel died early July 5, without specifying where those deaths occurred.
Reports use different descriptions of the vehicle.
The crash record classifies the vehicle as a pickup truck. Gothamist identified Hyden's vehicle as a Ford F-150 pickup; a July 20 Post report called it a car in one passage and a truck in another.
A conviction followed by a prison sentence.
After a November trial, a jury convicted Hyden of second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and assault. Gothamist and the Post reported that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge April Newbauer sentenced him to 24 years to life on January 16, 2026; the Daily News described the sentence as 24 years in prison.
Accounts of what happened immediately afterward differ. CBS reported that parkgoers pulled Hyden from the pickup and held him until police arrived. Prosecutors later said he tried to reverse away and witnesses removed the key from the ignition.
At sentencing, Lucille Pinkney's niece Starkema Lewis said, “The trauma hasn’t just affected us individually. It has changed the entire fabric of our family and our Lower East Side community.”