Driver Takes Plea in 1997 Hit-and-Run Death of Kristen Nemec
A driver who jumped bail 13 years ago after a West Village hit-and-run pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter yesterday.
Jose Heras was 21 when he mowed down 25-year-old Kristen Nemec as she and a group of friends crossed Houston Street at LaGuardia Place in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 25, 1997. Nemec, a native of West Los Angeles in town for a sorority sister's wedding, was wearing her bridesmaid's dress when she died less than half an hour later at St. Vincent's Medical Center. Wrote the Times:
''Her boyfriend said that they had just crossed the street, and he hadstopped in the center divider, and she was just a couple of pacesbehind him,'' said her father, Richard. ''Then he turned around and sawwhat had happened.''
Police found Heras' abandoned BMW a few blocks away. He turned himself in to police and was initially charged with leaving the scene. Heras, a U.S. citizen, fled the country and was eventually found in Cuenca, Ecuador. He was deported from Ecuador last August.
"This is a victory on two fronts: aggressive prosecution of a vehicular crime, and closing an open homicide," a spokesperson with Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's office told Streetsblog.
Heras will be sentenced on March 12, according to the AP, when he faces a maximum prison term of seven years.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
What is the Life of a Dead Pedestrian Worth?
A cop laughed that a normal person is only worth $11,000 — and that figure was partly due to his racism, but also how little we value the lives of people on foot.
Monday’s Headlines: ‘What is Up With All These Flip-Flops, Mayor?’ Edition
It's the same old story with this mayor and his chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin. Plus other news.
Why Sustainable Transportation Advocates Need to Talk About Long COVID
Covid-19 transformed many U.S. cities' approach to sustainable transportation forever. But how did it transform the lives of sustainable transportation advocates who developed lasting symptoms from the disease?
Analysis: ‘Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program’ is a Failure By All Measures
The Department of Transportation wants the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program to simply expire in part because it did not dramatically improve safety among these worst-of-the-worst drivers and led to a tiny number of vehicle seizures.
School Bus Driver Kills Cyclist in Boro Park, 24th Bike Death of 2023
Luis Perez-Ramirez, 44, was biking south on Fort Hamilton Parkway just before 3:15 p.m. when he was struck a by school bus driver making a right turn.
