Suspect in Long Island crash that killed 1 man, 3 kids takes plea deal. Hear from the victims' family.
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. -- A man who admitted to driving while high on drugs and rear-ending a car, killing one adult and three children, on Long Island last year has agreed to a plea deal, but the victims' loved ones aren't satisfied with the prison time.
1 adult, 3 children killed in crash on Sunrise Highway
Thirty-three-year-old Michael DeAngelo, of Lindenhurst, admitted to a judge he was high on drugs when speeding down Sunrise Highway in east Massapequa on Aug. 6, 2023. He rear-ended the car of 60-year-old United States Marine veteran Patrice Huntley, who was taking his children and step-grandchild to get ice cream.
"This defendant, while high on a cocktail of fentanyl and cocaine, rocketed his car to 120 miles per hour just moments before he killed four innocent people," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
Huntley was killed in the crash, along with two of his children, 10-year-old Jeremiah and 13-year-old Hannah. Huntley's step-granddaughter, 6-year-old Chantel Solomon, suffered critical injuries and died at a hospital about a week after the crash.
An 18-year-old was also seriously injured in the crash.
DeAngelo claimed he blacked out behind the wheel because the drugs he was taking were laced with fentanyl.
Suspect in deadly Massapequa crash takes plea deal
DeAngelo, who has a history of drug arrests, agreed to a plea deal, sending him to prison for seven to 21 years.
"He wants the family to know that from day one, this was never an intentional act," said Karl Seman, DeAngelo's defense attorney.
Some of the victims' loved ones aren't satisfied with the deal.
"For him to still have a chance at life is wrong. He still has a chance to get out. He still has a chance go on about like nothing ever happened," said relative Divina Hamilton. "I can't ever see my baby again. I had to watch her be hurt in the hospital and deal with all the stuff she didn't deserve. She didn't ask for this. My siblings, none of them is alive."
"This has impacted my life forever. I can't get my children back. I will never be a grandmother," said relative Tasheba Hamilton-Huntley. "Everybody's life has shifted because of this, and the laws need to change."
"How many must die? How many more broken hearts will be enough before people learn -- drugged driving kills?" Donnelly said.
DeAngelo will be sentenced June 28.
