Man charged in Belt Parkway crash that killed passenger
Prosecutors say Kenyatta Weston Jr. was driving at 115 mph before a 3:47 a.m. Belt Parkway crash in Queens on February 8, 2025, that killed 27-year-old Elizabeth Vanessa Perla Hernandez.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Elizabeth Vanessa Perla Hernandez, 27, died after a crash on the eastbound Belt Parkway in Queens on February 8, 2025. Prosecutors allege that Kenyatta Weston Jr. was driving at 115 mph when he struck sand-filled barrels along the shoulder. The account of who drove has changed: the city crash record identifies the woman as the driver, an early police account said investigators had not determined who drove, and prosecutors later identified Weston as the driver and Hernandez as his passenger. Weston was charged with manslaughter and other offenses in March 2026 and pleaded not guilty.
The crash and the disputed driver account
The city recorded one person killed and one injured in a crash involving an eastbound sedan on the Belt Parkway at 3:47 a.m. An early report described a white Toyota Camry and said both occupants were ejected. Hernandez died after medics took her to Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital.
Accounts differ on who was driving. The city crash record identifies the 27-year-old woman as the driver, and a February 2025 QNS report attributed the same account to police. A contemporaneous Daily News report said investigators had not determined who drove. Prosecutors later alleged that Weston drove and Hernandez was his passenger.
Along the eastbound Belt Parkway
The crash happened on the eastbound Belt Parkway in southeast Queens. Reports identified different nearby landmarks: an early QNS account placed it near 223rd Street in Springfield Gardens, an early Daily News account said near 225th Street in Laurelton, and a later account of the prosecution's case placed it near the Sunrise Highway overpass in Rosedale.
Elizabeth Vanessa Perla Hernandez
Hernandez grew up on Long Island and was the eldest of four siblings, her aunt Sulyema Hernandez told the Daily News. She worked in collections for the Internal Revenue Service, planned to return to college and hoped to become a corrections officer. Her aunt remembered her as happy, outgoing and full of energy.
Charges filed more than a year later
Prosecutors allege that Weston drove at 115 mph in a 45-mph zone and struck sand-filled barrels on the shoulder. In March 2026, he was arraigned on charges including manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, impaired driving and criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty, and a judge ordered him held without bail.