Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Reginald Nash, 26, of Lincoln Avenue in Roosevelt, was sentenced Wednesday to seven to 21 years in prison for a fatal drunk driving crash on the Long Island Expressway that killed one of his passengers, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
The collision occurred on November 19, 2023, at approximately 4:30 a.m., when Nash was driving a 2021 Honda Accord eastbound on the Long Island Expressway at 89 miles per hour, prosecutors say. Nash crashed into a highway attenuator separating the highway from the Greenpoint Avenue exit in Long Island City. After striking the barrier, the Honda spun clockwise and struck a Toyota Rav-4 driven by a 44-year-old man, which then spun and hit a Kia Telluride SUV driven by a 51-year-old man, according to the investigation. The drivers of the other two vehicles were uninjured.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City arrived to find the Honda Accord with extensive damage facing the wrong direction, according to authorities. Cameron Mency, 23, a passenger in the Honda, was ejected approximately 90 feet from the car by the impact of the crash and was found unresponsive lying in the left lane of the highway. Officers found Nash near the bumper of the vehicle, attending to Giselle Carchi, his 22-year-old fiancée, who was unconscious, prosecutors say. Two other passengers in Nash’s car, his sister Tiffany Cox, 36, and Crystal Ramos, 22, were both lying next to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
EMS responded and rushed all four women to Elmhurst Hospital, according to police. Mency sustained extensive head and body trauma and was pronounced dead a short while later. Carchi had serious injuries and underwent multiple surgeries to her back. Ramos sustained head and body trauma and underwent surgery for a fractured tibia and has not regained full mobility, prosecutors say. Cox also sustained head and body trauma.
According to the investigation, Nash had a blood alcohol content of .12%, exceeding the legal threshold of .08%. A search warrant was executed for the vehicle’s black box, which indicated the car was traveling at approximately 89 miles per hour five seconds before the fatal collision and that the brakes had not been engaged, authorities say.
Nash pleaded guilty in May to aggravated vehicular homicide and assault in the second degree in Queens Supreme Court. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis sentenced Nash on Wednesday to an indeterminate sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.
“The defendant put this terrible course of events in motion when he took the wheel under the influence of alcohol,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “It is imperative to remind every individual they are responsible for their decisions, and this defendant’s reckless conduct led to the loss of one life and life-altering injuries for the surviving passengers.”
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the Long Island Expressway eastbound near the Greenpoint Avenue exit in Long Island City, Queens. This section of I-495 has recorded 126 incidents in traffic databases, with recent incidents including roadwork, construction, road sweeping, and overnight overhead sign repairs.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Nash was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and assault in the second degree following the November 2023 crash. He entered a guilty plea in May 2025 in Queens Supreme Court. The investigation included analysis of the vehicle’s black box data, which provided crucial evidence about the car’s speed and the lack of braking before impact.