Off-Duty Officer Pleads Guilty in Parkway Worker’s Death
Police crash data recorded a pedestrian killed on the Grand Central Parkway on April 26, 2023, and prosecutors said off-duty NYPD officer Tyler Paul was speeding when he hit highway worker Kawan Edwards.
What We Know
Kawan Edwards, 36, was working on the Grand Central Parkway on April 26, 2023, when off-duty NYPD officer Tyler Paul drove at high speed and changed lanes, prosecutors said. The official crash record lists unsafe speed and records Edwards as a pedestrian working in the roadway. Prosecutors said Paul, then 25, hit another vehicle during the lane change, lost control, and hit Edwards as Edwards was putting up construction signs on the shoulder. Edwards was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and pronounced dead. Paul later pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and assault.
A lane change before a fatal work-zone impact
The crash happened at about 10:09 a.m. on April 26, 2023, on the Grand Central Parkway. Prosecutors said Tyler Paul, an off-duty NYPD officer driving his personal car, was speeding when he changed lanes from left to right without signaling and while driving between lanes.
Prosecutors said Paul hit another vehicle in the right lane, lost control, and then hit Kawan Edwards, who was working as a Department of Transportation contractor and putting up construction signs on the shoulder. The official record lists Edwards as a 36-year-old pedestrian working in the roadway and records unsafe speed as a contributing factor.
Kawan Edwards was taken to Jamaica Hospital
Emergency medical workers took Edwards to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors said. The official record counts one pedestrian killed and one motorist injured in the crash.
Speed and lane changing were central to the case
The city crash record lists unsafe speed for the collision and records unsafe speed and unsafe lane changing for one sedan. Prosecutors similarly said Paul was driving at a high rate of speed and made the lane change without signaling before the fatal impact.
Paul pleaded guilty after the attorney general’s investigation
Police arrested Paul on March 15, 2024, prosecutors said. The NYPD suspended him without pay and later terminated him.
Paul pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court to criminally negligent homicide and assault. Prosecutors said he was expected to receive concurrent prison sentences and had waived his right to appeal.
Where
Grand Central Pkwy