Man Sentenced To Prison For Fatal Drunken Hit-And-Run On Southern State

An Oyster Bay man was sentenced to 14 to 30 years in prison on Friday for causing a fatal crash in 2014 while drunk and high, leaving the scene of the crash and then burning the car to destroy evidence, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said.

Madi Grant, 35, was convicted in March of several charges, including second-degree manslaughter, third-degree arson and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting.

“Sherman Richardson should still be alive with his wife, Jawana, and their family, friends and co-workers but for the egregious, criminal acts of this selfish, reckless defendant that shock the conscience,” Singas said in a press release.

On Dec. 5, 2014, Grant drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and spent several hours in a Queens strip club before driving a borrowed rental 2014 Chevrolet Captiva eastbound on the Southern State Parkway at 5:30 a.m., authorities said.

Grant was about a half-mile away from the Route 110 exit when he accelerated across all three lanes of traffic, from the left lane to the right lane, and crashed into the rear of another car, driven by 59-year-old Sherman Richardson of Hempstead, at around 6:30 a.m., the DA said. Grant was driving 84 miles per hour at the time of the crash, the DA said.

Richardson’s car veered off the parkway and slammed into a tree on the side of the road. Richardson, who was on his way to work as an ironworker, was killed instantly.

A good Samaritan who was driving eastbound on Southern State stopped to help Richardson while another good Samaritan followed Grant as he fled the parkway at Exit 32, the DA said.

The good Samaritan flashed his headlights, honked his horn at the driver and eventually lost his pursuit of the Chevrolet Captiva, but not before calling 911, giving police a description of the car and returning to the scene of the crash.

Grant’s car was allegedly speeding through several red lights and stop signs and driving as fast as 70 miles per hour while making rapid turns through the side streets of Amityville to flee the scene.

According to the DA, Grant hired someone to light the Captiva on fire later that day to destroy all evidence of the crash. The car was found engulfed in flames on a residential street, in front of the street where Grant's children live, at 3:30 p.m., soon after school had let out for the day.

Grant was arrested in September 2015.

He was convicted of the following charges:

• Second-degree manslaughter
• Third-degree arson
• Leaving the scene of an incident without reporting
• DWI
• Driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs
• Reckless driving
• Aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle
• Fourth-degree conspiracy

Image via NCDA