Charles Hynes Has Not Filed Homicide Charge Against Alleged DWI Killer
A motorist who allegedly killed a woman while driving drunk in Brooklyn two months ago has not been charged by District Attorney Charles Hynes for her death, according to court records.
On July 5 at around 12:25 a.m., 27-year-old Roxana Gomez was walking at Flatbush Avenue and St. Marks Avenue when she was hit by a BMW sedan driven by Eric Nesmith, according to witness accounts and the Post. A Columbia grad student who worked for the human rights group MADRE, Gomez suffered massive head injuries, and was administered CPR by an emergency room nurse who lived near the scene. She died on July 10.
The Post reported that Nesmith, 25, of Newark, ”admitted to cops he had consumed up to six Coronas at a family gathering” before the crash. His BAC was .126, the Post said.
Nesmith was initially charged only with DWI, according to the Post and online court records. A few days after Gomez’s death, a Hynes spokesperson told Streetsblog that charges could be upgraded once the case was presented to a grand jury, which the spokesperson said could happen the week of July 15.
Nesmith had a court appearance Wednesday, and records say he still faces a top charge of driving while intoxicated, not manslaughter or homicide. He is free on $1,500 bail.
Online court records do not provide real-time updates, but they are reliable. Nevertheless, we asked Hynes’s office to confirm that DWI is still the top charge against Nesmith. We received no response. A law firm representing Gomez’s estate reached out to Streetsblog to get contact information for crash witnesses, but has since stopped communicating with us.
Nesmith’s next court appearance is scheduled for October 29.
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