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No Manslaughter Charge For Drunk Driver Who Killed Brooklyn Pedestrian

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jan 17, 2014

Modified Jan 17, 2014

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Roxana Gomez

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Jan 17, 2014

Modified Jan 17, 2014

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[UPDATE BELOW]

A driver who fatally struck a 27-year-old female pedestrian in Brooklyn over the summer has avoided a murder charge by pleading guilty to a DWI, Streetsblog reports.

The driver, Newark resident Eric Nesmith, allegedly hit 27-year-old Roxana Gomez while she was walking at St. Marks and Flatbush Ave in Park Slope around midnight on July 5th of last year. At the time, the 25-year-old Nesmith admitted to cops that he'd been driving under the influence, having had at least six beers at a family gathering; the NYPD reported that his blood alcohol level was at .126, well over the legal limit.

Gomez was hospitalized with massive head injuries, and died a few days later. Nesmith, meanwhile, was not served with a manslaughter or homicide charge in the wake of her death, and pleaded guilty to a DWI yesterday.

The DWI charge is just one of many disturbing outcomes of city pedestrian deaths, with drivers often being issued summonses for minor violations after fatally striking a pedestrian or cyclist. Nesmith faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail, a $1,000 fine, and a 6 month revocation of his license; a murder or manslaughter charge would obviously carry a much harsher penalty, indicative of the weight of a life lost. Gomez, a native of Nicaragua, worked for women's rights advocate group MADRE: they described her as "a young woman full of laughter, intelligence and tenacity... She was fierce, hard-working and tireless, and she motivated others to be the same."

Update 5:40 p.m.: In a statement to Streetsblog, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said, "An accident reconstruction expert concluded that alcohol was not a contributing factor in the death of the pedestrian in this case," though how that was determined remains to be seen.

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Rebecca Fishbein

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