Crime & Safety
Drunken Driver Slams Into Tree, Killing Nassau Passenger: Cops
Police say Donnell Hill drunkenly crashed into a tree, throwing a passenger from his car and killing them.
HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Massapequa man was killed after a Hempstead man drunkenly drove into a tree Saturday night, Nassau County police said.
According to police, Donnell Hill, 50, of Hempstead, was driving a 2018 Dodge Charger east on Jerusalem Avenue near Ingraham Boulevard in Hempstead around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. Police say he was speeding and lost control, then struck a curb and hit a tree.
The impact threw a rear passenger from the car, police said. The passenger, 26-year-old Xavier Parris, of Massapequa, was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
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Hill had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, police said. He was arrested at the scene.
Hill is charged with manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra's Law. He appeared in First District Court in Hempstead on Sunday and was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond, which was not posted.
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