Wrong-way Crash Driver Pleads Guilty to All Charges
The Queens woman's blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit.
The Queens woman charged in the wrong-way fatal crash in July on the Thruway pled guilty Tuesday to all counts of a nine-count indictment.
Tanisha Gomez, 26, of Ozone Park, struck another vehicle head on as she drove northbound in the southbound lanes of the New England Thruway in New Rochelle.
She pled guilty to the following:
- Three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, class "B" felonies
- Second-degree manslaughter, a class "C" felony
- First-degree vehicular assault, a class "D" felony
- Aggravated driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor
- Two counts of driving while intoxicated, misdemeanors
- Reckless driving, a misdemeanor
The accident occurred at approximately 4:31 a.m. July 24. Gomez had been driving her car in the wrong direction for at least 6.4 miles in New York City and Westchester County.
Tests showed her blood alcohol content was .19, more than twice the legal limit of .08.
Gomez, who was traveling alone, and the driver and the front-seat passenger of the other vehicle had to be extricated from their cars with the assistance of emergency crews from New Rochelle who responded to the scene along with the State Police.
Reginald Lee, the front-seat passenger, was pronounced dead at Sound Shore Medical Center. The driver of the car in which he was traveling sustained serious injuries.
Gomez was also injured in the crash and was treated at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
She will be sentenced April 24 and faces a maximum of eight and one-third to 25 years in state prison.
Her bail was continued at $50,000 bond.