DA: 10-Month-Old In L.I. DWI Crash Dies; Dad Faces New Charges
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Westbury man is facing upgraded charges after his infant daughter died of her injuries in an alleged DWI crash last month.
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Jose Escobar never looked up once as he sat in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday. He was arraigned on a grand jury indictment in the July 19 crash. He pleaded not guilty.
Police said Escobar was drunk after buying a six-pack of beer and speeding on the Long Island Expressway service road in Brentwood when he lost control of his Nissan. He spun off the road and went airborne before crashing into the back of a 7-Eleven, police said.
Prosecutors said his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.
During the crash, the child's car seat was thrown from the vehicle, seriously injuring Escobar's 10-month-old daughter, Helen.
A spokesman for the district attorney said the infant died of her injuries late last week.
"My client and his family are mourning the loss of a child," Escobar's attorney, Phil Solages, told WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall on Wednesday. "He lost his child now. Any parent would feel horrible."
Escobar and his pregnant girlfriend were also injured. She had to have an emergency C-section and the newborn did survive.
The judge issued an order of protection and Escobar is not allowed to see his newborn.
If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
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