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District Attorney

Posted on: October 15, 2014

[ARCHIVED] 10/10/14 - West Hempstead Man Pleads Guilty to Top Charge in Fatal 2013 Crash

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced that a West Hempstead man pleaded guilty today to the top charge against him in connection with a high-speed crash that killed two young passengers, 22-year-old Blossom Castro and 20-year-old Bryan Rivas.

Kervens Boutin pleaded guilty today to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony), two counts of Assault in the 2nd Degree (a D felony), Aggravated Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol (an unclassified misdemeanor) and Operating a Motor Vehicle While Impaired by Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor) before Nassau County Court Judge Tammy Robbins. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of five to 15 years in prison. Boutin is due back in court on Dec. 17.

“It’s unthinkable that a drug-impaired driver with a .31 BAC would try to drive 99 miles per hour at any time on any road,” DA Rice said. “The passengers were the trapped, inevitable victims of this driver’s incredible recklessness. We’re fortunate that he didn’t strike any other cars and destroy more innocent lives. The defendant alone is responsible for these brutal deaths and terrible injuries, including his own, and he will soon bear the legal consequences.”

DA Rice said that at approximately 5:45 a.m. on January 27, 2013, Boutin was speeding in his 2008 Nissan Maxima with four passengers westbound on the Southern State Parkway when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a line of trees on the north side of the roadway just east of Exit 22.

The front seat passenger, 22-year-old Blossom Castro, was the only one not ejected from the vehicle, and was killed on impact. Bryan Rivas, 20 was also killed. The remaining two male passengers, 19-year-old Marlo Cabrera and 22-year-old Antonio Rivas, were both seriously injured, including the amputation of Rivas’s right leg in the crash. Both of Boutin’s legs were also amputated in the crash.

Based on the forensic evidence at the scene, the New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit estimated that Boutin was traveling 99 miles per hour when he lost control of his vehicle. His blood-alcohol content 40 minutes after the crash was .31, nearly four times the legal limit. The active ingredient for marijuana was also present in his system.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Bushwack of DA Rice’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case. Boutin is represented by Steven Epstein, Esq.

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