New York — A The driver who hit his pickup truck At a 4th of July barbecue and Four people were killed He was found guilty Monday of murder in the 2024 wreck in a New York City park.
A Manhattan judge handed down the ruling in the trial of Daniel Hayden, as relatives of victims, survivors and witnesses described how a holiday gathering of friends and relatives suddenly turned into a horrific scene when the truck jumped the curb, tore down a chain-link fence and plowed into the group.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that he hoped the conviction would provide “at least some measure of comfort” to the victims’ friends and families.
Bragg’s office said Hayden, 46, of Monmouth, New Jersey, was also convicted of assault and vehicular homicide.
Text messages and an email seeking comment were sent to Hayden’s attorney.
Anna Morel, 43; Emily Ruiz, 30; Lucille Pinckney, 59; A relative, Herman Pinckney, 38, was killed and seven other people were injured in the accident at Corler’s Hook Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Less than an hour earlier, Hayden was denied entry to a nearby party boat and clashed with security, according to testimony from police who responded to the boat brawl. At that point, they walked with Hayden to a park bench and left.
Then he got behind the wheel of a Ford F-150.
Prosecutors said Hayden — who wrote a 2020 book about dealing with addiction — was drunk, speeding and didn’t hit the brakes until it was too late, trapping four people under the truck. He then tried to put the car in reverse, but witnesses grabbed the keys to stop him, prosecutors said.
Hayden’s lawyer indicated that the man suffered a foot injury that complicated his driving.