Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Hempstead man was sentenced today to up to 15 years in prison for an October 2022 crash on Jerusalem Avenue that killed a 26-year-old man and injured three other passengers, including the defendant’s teenage son.
Donnell Hill, 52, pleaded guilty on January 24, 2024, before Judge Terence Murphy to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony);
Assault in the Third Degree (an A misdemeanor); Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated with a Child (an E felony); and Driving While Intoxicated (an unclassified misdemeanor).
The defendant was sentenced today to 5 to 15 years in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 7 to 21 years in prison.
“Donnell Hill was an MTA bus driver for more than ten years, responsible for the lives of countless passengers along his routes. But on October 29, 2022, any sense of duty clearly did not extend to his personal life, when the defendant recklessly sped down Jerusalem Avenue at more than three times the speed limit while heavily intoxicated and crashed his high-powered Dodge Charger into a tree. The impact killed a 26-year-old man and injured the defendant’s own son,” said DA Donnelly. “Xavier Parris had his whole life ahead of him. A charismatic young man who was loved by his Uniondale community. We hope that today’s prison sentence brings some solace to Xavier’s many family members and friends who continue to mourn his loss.”
DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, at approximately 10:36 p.m. on October 29, 2022, the defendant, while intoxicated, was driving his blue 2018 Dodge Charger eastbound on Jerusalem Avenue towards Ingraham Boulevard in Hempstead with four passengers.
According to the crash data recorder, just five seconds before the crash the defendant was driving at 97 miles an hour and not engaging the brake. The speed limit on Jerusalem Avenue at that location is 30 miles per hour.
The defendant lost control of his vehicle, crossed over the westbound lanes of travel, and crashed into a tree at approximately 49 miles per hour.
Based on the investigation, the defendant also drove his car in a “doughnut” pattern at least twice on a public roadway just before the crash.
Rear passenger Xavier Parris, 26, was ejected from the vehicle and suffered extensive injuries.
He was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital at 2:11 a.m.
Two of the other three occupants of the vehicle, including Hill’s then 13-year-old son, were treated for various injuries at Nassau University Medical Center.
The defendant had a BAC of .13% approximately two hours after the collision.
Hill was arrested at the scene by members of the Hempstead and Nassau County Police Departments.
At the time of the crash the defendant was a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”).
Deputy Bureau Chief Stephanie Dellinger and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Russell of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau are prosecuting the case. The defendant is represented by Joseph Indusi, Esq.
