Crime & Safety

Driver Gets Up to 12 Years For 7-Eleven Crash that Killed Infant Daughter

Jose Escobar pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, aggravated vehicular homicide and manslaughter.

A Westbury man who drunkenly drove his car off Motor Parkway into the side of a 7-Eleven in July 2012, killing his 10-month-old daughter, will serve up to 12 years in prison. 

Jose Escobar, 30, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child under Leandra's Law, aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving and other crimes on July 19, 2012, Newsday_reports. 

Judge John Toomey Jr. sentenced him Tuesday to serve 4 to 12 years in prison for the high-speed crash that killed his daughter and injured his pregnant girlfriend, Maria Guillen. 

"I do recognize I made a mistake," Escobar said in court, _Newsday reported. "I also suffer because of this mistake. I lost part of my life. I lost my daughter."

Escobar and Guillen were on their way to dinner on July 19, when Escobar stopped and picked up a six-pack, all of which he drank on the way to dinner. The two reportedly got into a disagreement in the parking lot about the drinking, according to prosecutors. 

Escobar allegedly sped off with Guillen and their daughter in the car and crashed into the back of a 7-Eleven on the intersection of Motor Parkway and Wicks Road, off Exit 53 on Expressway Drive North.

The couple's daughter, Helen Escobar, was transported to Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park following the crash. She died on July 26. 

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Guillen underwent an emergency C-section and was treated for her ankle. 

Tests showed Escobar had a blood-alcohol content of 0.26 at the time of the crash, more than three times the legal limit, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota. 

Read more on Newsday_[subscription required] about Escobar's sentence.     


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