Teen Driver Sentenced in Queens Crash That Killed Passenger
A 16-year-old driver in a BMW crashed at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street in Queens, where city data recorded a fatal collision and prosecutors later said his speeding killed 14-year-old Fortune Williams.
What We Know
A 16-year-old driver in a BMW crashed on North Conduit Avenue at 160th Street on May 17, 2023, killing 14-year-old passenger Fortune Williams. City crash data records one death and two injuries in the 6:38 p.m. collision. Prosecutors later said the teen driver had only a learner's permit, was driving illegally and was traveling at more than 100 mph in a 30 mph zone before he lost control while changing lanes. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and other charges and, at 18, received youthful offender status and a sentence of up to four years in prison.
What happened on North Conduit Avenue
The city crash record places the collision at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street in Queens at 6:38 p.m. on May 17, 2023. It records one person killed and two people injured, including one motorist and one pedestrian.
The person killed was a 14-year-old front-seat passenger. News reports identified her as Fortune Williams and said a 16-year-old boy was driving the BMW.
Prosecutors later said the teen driver lost control while trying to change lanes, collided with a parked UPS truck and then struck a tractor-trailer. An earlier Daily News account, citing police sources, said the car was clipped by a white box truck before it was sent into the parked UPS truck.
A dangerous North Conduit Avenue corridor
The crash happened at North Conduit Avenue and 160th Street in Queens, near Springfield Gardens.
CrashCountNYC's corridor view for North Conduit Avenue in Queens shows 1,214 crashes, 883 injuries, 46 serious injuries and 5 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Speed and license status shaped the case
The official vehicle record for the sedan lists driver inexperience and unsafe speed as contributing factors. Prosecutors later said the teen driver was traveling at more than 100 mph in a 30 mph zone.
According to the Queens district attorney's office, the driver was 16 at the time and had only a learner's permit, so he was driving illegally. CBS reported that he had been ticketed months earlier for driving without a license.
A prison sentence and parent accountability followed
The driver pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and other charges in May 2025. In August 2025, a Queens judge granted him youthful offender status and sentenced him to up to four years in prison.
Prosecutors said his parents, Sean Smith and Deo Ramnarine, were sentenced on child endangerment charges in connection with the crash and were required to attend parenting classes. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called it "a landmark case" because both the unlicensed teenage driver and his parents were held responsible.
Fortune Williams' mother, Keisha Francis, told CBS after sentencing, "He has to live with the fact of the action that he took that took Fortune's life."