What Happened
A 24-year-old Amityville man has been indicted on manslaughter and assault charges after allegedly speeding at 80 miles per hour while drunk and high on marijuana on the Southern State Parkway, crashing into a tree and killing the mother of his infant child in the early morning hours of April 5, 2026. According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Justin Osorio was arraigned on July 2, 2026, before Judge Joseph Girardi on a grand jury indictment stemming from the fatal single-vehicle crash near Exit 19N in Hempstead.
According to the indictment, at approximately 5:34 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, 2026, Osorio was driving a 2008 Ford Escape eastbound on the Southern State Parkway in the left-hand lane. Seated in the front passenger seat was 23-year-old Cindy Granados-Vigil, with whom Osorio shared a 9-month-old daughter and a residence in Amityville. Osorio’s 20-year-old cousin was seated in the rear middle seat. Prosecutors allege that Osorio was traveling at approximately 80 miles per hour — 25 miles per hour over the 55 mph posted speed limit on the parkway — when he failed to navigate a curve in the roadway. His vehicle drove straight through the bend, crossed both lanes of eastbound traffic, and plunged into a wooded area off the right shoulder, where it struck a tree.
Cindy Granados-Vigil was killed instantly from blunt force trauma. Osorio’s 20-year-old cousin sustained neck and back injuries. Osorio himself suffered a spinal cord injury and was transported into surgery at Nassau University Medical Center. The New York State Police arrested Osorio on the morning of the crash — April 5, 2026 — while he was receiving treatment. As part of the investigation, blood was drawn from Osorio at the hospital, which later revealed a high level of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active and impairing component of cannabis, according to the Nassau County DA’s announcement. Investigators further determined that Osorio was an unlicensed driver at the time of the crash, and that he had spent the prior evening allegedly drinking and using marijuana before getting behind the wheel.
DA Anne T. Donnelly was direct in her assessment of the defendant’s conduct. “This defendant showed a total disregard for anyone’s safety and abandoned common sense the moment he got behind the wheel after allegedly spending an evening drinking and getting high,” Donnelly said. “Justin Osorio was allegedly driving 80 miles per hour on the Southern State Parkway when he plowed through a bend in the road and crashed into a tree, instantly killing Cindy Granados-Vigil, with whom he shared an infant daughter. The child will now grow up without a mother, and the defendant stands to spend his child’s formative years behind bars if convicted.”
The human dimensions of this crash are particularly devastating. Granados-Vigil, just 23 years old, was the mother of a 9-month-old girl she shared with the man who was driving the vehicle. At the time of the crash, the two were living together in Amityville. Their infant daughter has now lost her mother to a crash that prosecutors describe as entirely preventable — the result of an unlicensed driver allegedly traveling 25 mph over the speed limit while impaired by two substances. Osorio, at 24, now faces the possibility of spending years in prison during the most formative period of his daughter’s life, according to the DA’s office.
Osorio pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Judge Joseph Girardi. He was remanded without bail, and his next court date has been scheduled for July 17, 2026. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Taglienti of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Daryl Levy. Osorio is represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the Southern State Parkway eastbound near Exit 19N in Hempstead, one of the most heavily traveled corridors in Nassau County. The Southern State Parkway stretches across the breadth of Long Island and is a primary route connecting communities across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Our database at Long Island Traffic tracks 715 recorded incidents on the Southern State Parkway alone, underscoring the road’s consistently high crash frequency. Just in the 48 hours surrounding this indictment announcement, two additional crashes were recorded on the parkway, on July 1 and July 2, 2026, along with a disabled vehicle and overnight overhead sign repair operations. Across all of Nassau County, our database contains 729 recorded accidents, reflecting the dense traffic volumes and mix of high-speed arterials and local roads that make the county one of Long Island’s most crash-prone areas.
The stretch near Exit 19N — the Hempstead Turnpike interchange — is a particularly demanding section of the parkway, with curves that require attentive, sober driving even at legal speeds. At 80 miles per hour, the curve that Osorio allegedly failed to navigate would have required extraordinary reaction time — a margin that no amount of driver skill can substitute for when impaired by both alcohol and THC.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Justin Osorio, 24, of Amityville was arraigned on July 2, 2026, on a seven-count grand jury indictment before Nassau County Judge Joseph Girardi. According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the charges include: Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a D felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); Assault in the Third Degree (an A misdemeanor); Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); Driving While Ability Impaired by the Combined Influence of Drugs or of Alcohol and any Drug or Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); and Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor). Osorio pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 17, 2026. If convicted on the top count — Manslaughter in the Second Degree — he faces a sentence of up to 7 to 15 years in state prison.
The investigation was conducted with the support of blood evidence collected at Nassau University Medical Center following the crash. That toxicological analysis confirmed a high level of Delta-9 THC in Osorio’s system on the morning of April 5, 2026. Additionally, investigators established that Osorio held no valid driver’s license at the time of the crash — a detail that compounds the recklessness alleged in the indictment. The case is being handled by ADA James Taglienti of the Nassau County DA’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau, supervised by Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and EADA Daryl Levy. As is standard practice, the charges contained in the indictment are accusations, and Osorio is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty.
Broader Impact
Under New York State law, a conviction for Manslaughter in the Second Degree — a Class C felony — carries a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in state prison, while the vehicular manslaughter count carries up to 2⅓ to 7 years. The DA’s office confirmed Osorio faces up to 7 to 15 years if convicted on the top count. New York’s Know Your Rights framework makes clear that driving while impaired by any combination of alcohol and drugs — even absent a BAC at or above the legal limit — can form the basis of felony charges when a death results, a standard that prosecutors say is clearly met here given the toxicological results and the speed at which Osorio was allegedly traveling. The Granados-Vigil family’s loss is a stark reminder that impaired driving’s consequences extend far beyond the driver — in this case, reaching a 9-month-old child who will grow up without her mother.