Getaway Driver From Fatal Southern State Parkway Crash Sentenced To Up To Three Years Upstate
Long Island, NY - April 12, 2017 - A Queens man who pleaded guilty to driving his friend away from the scene of a fatal crash that killed three people on the Southern State Parkway was sentenced on Tuesday, April 11 to up to three years in prison.
State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho said accepting the guilty plea from defendant Demitri Stewart, whose behavior he called “despicable”, is intended to spare the victims’ family from the emotional trauma of a second trial. Stewart drove Oniel Sharpe Jr. away from the crash scene early on the morning of July 12, 2015.
Sharpe, of Springfield Gardens, weaving in and out of traffic at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour, rear-ended an SUV that burst into flames killing the driver Ancio Ostane, 37, of Queens, and his children 8-year-old Andy and 4-year-old Sephora. Ostane’s wife escaped the burning vehicle with minor injuries. A jury convicted Sharpe of aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter in the second degree, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and tampering with evidence for causing the crash.
Sharpe, 26, faces up to 36 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced on April 18.
Stewart, of Cambria Heights, was convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, fourth-degree criminal facilitation and third-degree hindering prosecution. The district attorney’s office recommended Stewart receive up to seven years in an upstate correctional facility.