The New Jersey man who drove drunk and killed four people with his pickup truck at a Fourth of July barbecue in a Manhattan park in 2024 will serve more than two decades behind bars, prosecutors said Friday.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge April Newbauer sentenced Daniel Hyden, 46, to 24 years to life in prison. He was convicted last year of plowing his Ford F-150 into a crowd of family and friends celebrating the holiday at Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side. Hyden was going more than 50 mph at the time and didn’t brake until a half-second before the fatal crash, according to prosecutors.
Those killed included Lucille Pinkney, 59, and Herman Pinkney, 38 — a mother and son who lived nearby at NYCHA’s Vladeck Houses — Ana Morel, 43, and Emily Ruiz, 30, another Vladeck Houses resident. Prosecutors said seven other people were struck and injured by the truck or by debris; four of them were left struggling to walk.
“The trauma hasn’t just affected us individually. It has changed the entire fabric of our family and our Lower East Side community,” Starkema Lewis, Lucille Pinkney’s niece, said in a statement in the courtroom Friday.
Other relatives of the crash victims and survivors also addressed Hyden in impact statements detailing the long-lasting health effects and post-traumatic stress many of them still endure.
“If sitting in a park isn't safe, then what place is?” Halena Herrera wrote, adding that a flying piece of debris from the collision broke bones in her face. “Each day we’re outside, I’m hoping that we're not in harm’s way.”
Many said the Fourth of July will never feel like a celebration again.
“This day will forever haunt us,” wrote Evelyn Morel, Ana’s sister.
Hyden, a Monmouth resident, once worked for a substance abuse center in East Harlem, according to police officials and an employee at the site. He earned a master’s degree in psychology and addiction counseling from Aspen University in 2022, records show.
Immediately after the crash, prosecutors said Hyden tried to flee the scene by reversing the truck to keep driving, but witnesses pulled the key out of the ignition. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in the case, but he was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and assault.
“While this prison sentence will not reverse the fatalities, injuries and trauma, I hope this sentencing brings a measure of comfort for those who were impacted by this mass casualty event,” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement Friday. “If you are intoxicated, do not get behind the wheel – it risks the lives of others, and you will be prosecuted.”
Hyden’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
