Nassau Woman Pleads Guilty In Fatal DWI Crash

HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Uniondale woman pleaded guilty last week to homicide charges related to a drunk driving crash that killed a woman in 2021.

Tasha Brown, 29, pleaded guilty on Oct. 14 to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated. She is due back in court for sentencing on Dec. 7, and is expected to receive seven to 15 years in prison.

“Tasha Brown’s blood alcohol content was .20 when she decided to get behind the wheel of a car and drive at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “It is because of this defendant’s actions that Nelson Fuentes is dead today. He was an innocent man in a parked car and was killed as Brown’s vehicle careened down Front Street in Hempstead. Mr. Fuentes was only 29-years old, and we stand with his family as they continue to mourn his senseless loss.”

According to Donnelly, at 4:35 a.m. on May 29, 2021, Brown was driving a 2016 Toyota Corolla with three passengers in it west on Front Street in Hempstead. She veered off the road near the intersection of Hendrickson Avenue while driving more than 90 mph and struck several parked cars. Nelson Fuentes, 29, was in one of the parked cars.

Fuentes suffered fatal injuries in the crash. He was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center at 5:26 a.m. Brown and her passengers were also injured, two of them seriously, and were treated at the hospital.