MOTORIST CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN DEATH OF 3-YEAR-OLD RUN OVER IN QUEENS

USANewsOnline.Com Desk, New York : Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kevin Gomez was charged in an indictment December 7 with manslaughter in the death of a 3-year-old boy run over in Flushing. Gomez is accused of hitting the child with his car and dragging him approximately 10 feet before driving away.

District Attorney Katz said: “There are few threats to public safety more lethal than an unlicensed
driver operating an unregistered, uninsured vehicle at night with a windshield and windows tinted so dark you can barely see through them in broad daylight. We will show in court that the horrifying death of 3- year-old Quintus Chen was the result of the defendant’s recklessness, irresponsibility and indifference to human life.”
Gomez, 20, of 60th Road in Maspeth, is charged in a 14-count indictment with manslaughter in the
second degree; assault in the second degree; leaving the scene of an incident without reporting; criminally negligent homicide; reckless endangerment in the second degree; reckless driving; operating a motor vehicle or permitting it to be operated in this state without having in full force financial security; two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a tinted window; operating or driving an unregistered motor vehicle; making an unlawful turn; stopping, standing or parking a vehicle in violation of posted restrictions; and two counts of operating or driving a motor vehicle without a license. Gomez faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
According to the charges:
 On November 29, at approximately 6:39 p.m., video surveillance shows that Gomez parked his 2014
white Infiniti Q50 in a No Standing Zone in front of 41-04 College Point Boulevard at 41st Avenue.
He went into the Dunkin Donuts at that location and returned to his car.
 Quintus Chen, 3, of Flushing, was walking down the street ahead of his father and stepped off the
curb in front of the Infiniti.
 Video surveillance footage shows that the child’s head cleared the top of the car’s hood and he would
have been visible to the driver.
 Without signaling, Gomez then pulled forward into a traffic lane on College Point Boulevard.
 Quintus was thrown from the hood to the street underneath the car. He was dragged approximately
10 feet. Gomez appeared to slow or stop the vehicle before driving off.
 The child sustained severe head and neck trauma and was transported to a local hospital where he
was pronounced dead.
 At approximately 8:50 p.m., the Infiniti was found parked in front of a fire hydrant at the intersection
of College Point Boulevard and Pople Avenue, about four blocks from the collision scene. It was
towed to the 109th Precinct. The vehicle was observed to have blood on the driver’s side kick board.
 The car’s windows were excessively tinted. The windshield had a light transmittance of 11% and the
driver’s side window had a light transmittance of 0%, both below the legal threshold of 70%.
 Gomez was arrested the next day when he went to the 109th Precinct to inquire about the whereabouts of his car.
 Gomez had only a learner’s permit and could not legally drive unless accompanied by a licensed
driver at least 21 years old.
 The car’s registration and insurance had expired.
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Licciardello of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Whitney, Bureau Chief, and Roni C. Piplani, Deputy Bureau Chief, with the assistance of Assistant District
Attorneys Kenneth Koo and Matthew Hauszpigel of the Homicide Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys John Kosinski, Bureau Chief and Jonathan Selkowe, Chief of the Vehicle Homicide Unit under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.
Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Press Release.