Man Pleads Guilty In Manhasset Crash That Killed Pregnant Fiancée

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second degree manslaughter for causing a head-on crash that his pregnant fiancée and her unborn baby on the Long Island Expressway Service Road in June, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Courtney W. Corbett, 29, "drove like a madman to avoid shoplifting charges," which led to the death of Demytrya C. Gibbs, 27, of Brooklyn, who was six months pregnant with her unborn child June 18, Singas said.

In addition to second-degree manslaughter, Corbett also pleaded guilty to the following charges:

• Two counts of second-degree assault
• Third-degree assault
• Five counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument
• Second-degree reckless endangerment
• Third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer
• Reckless driving

Police said they attempted to pull Corbett over at 3:50 p.m. as he fled the scene of a larceny at Sephora, located at 1950 Northern Boulevard in Manhasset. Police said Corbett refused to stop and began driving recklessly on Shelter Rock Road.

“There can be no justification and no excuse for the risks the defendant took with everyone’s lives on the road that day or for the lives that he cut short within his own car,” Singas said.

Corbett, who had two passengers in his vehicle, then made a right turn into the eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway Service Road, heading in the wrong direction, police said. Police said officers stopped following Corbett due to his reckless driving and, consequently, lost contact with the vehicle.

Corbett's wrong-way driving caused him to strike a 2007 Audi head-on. That vehicle was occupied by a man and two teenage boys, police said. After the accident, Gibbs was found unresponsive and not breathing. The woman and her unborn child were transported to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

The driver of the Audi, a 44-year-old man, was hospitalized for back pain. Police said his passengers, two boys aged 14 and 13, were uninjured.

Corbett was arrested and taken to a local hospital to be treated for multiple lacerations and contusions. His rear passenger was also hospitalized and treated for a head injury.

Corbett is due back in court Jan. 3, 2018. The NCDA is recommending a sentence of six to 12 years in prison.

Image via NCDA