Driver Sentenced After Four Killed at Lower East Side Barbecue
At 8:52 p.m. on July 4, 2024, at Water and Jackson streets, Daniel Hyden drove drunk into a Corlears Hook Park gathering, killing four pedestrians; city data lists eight injured.
What We Know
On July 4, 2024, Daniel Hyden drove a Ford F-150 into people gathered for a barbecue at Corlears Hook Park near Water and Jackson streets, according to prosecutors and police accounts. The city crash record lists four pedestrians killed and eight people injured at 8:52 p.m.; press reports identified the dead as Lucille Pinkney, Herman or Hernan Pinkney, Ana Morel and Emily Ruiz. Prosecutors said Hyden was drunk, going more than 50 mph and tried to leave before witnesses stopped him. In January 2026, a Manhattan judge sentenced him to 24 years to life after convictions including second-degree murder and aggravated vehicular homicide.
A July Fourth gathering turned deadly
The official crash record places the collision at Water Street and Jackson Street in Manhattan at 8:52 p.m. on July 4, 2024, with four pedestrians killed and eight people injured.
Police told CBS New York that Daniel Hyden drove through a stop sign, went over the curb, through a fence and into people at a barbecue in Corlears Hook Park. Prosecutors later said he was driving more than 50 mph and did not brake until a half-second before the crash.
Four people died, and families described lasting harm
Press reports identified the people killed as Lucille Pinkney, 59; Herman or Hernan Pinkney, 38; Ana Morel, 43; and Emily Ruiz, 30. Reports described Lucille Pinkney and Herman or Hernan Pinkney as mother and son who lived near the scene; outlets differed on the spelling of his first name.
CBS New York reported that Lucille Pinkney and Herman Pinkney died on July 4, Ana Morel died early on July 5, and Emily Ruiz died after being hospitalized in critical condition. The official record lists all four as pedestrians who were killed.
At sentencing, relatives and survivors described trauma that outlasted the night itself. Gothamist quoted Starkema Lewis, Lucille Pinkney’s niece, saying, "The trauma hasn’t just affected us individually. It has changed the entire fabric of our family and our Lower East Side community."
Investigators described a northbound pickup
The city vehicle record lists a 2017 Ford pickup traveling north with one male occupant and front-end damage. Press reports described the pickup as a Ford F-150 driven by Hyden.
The criminal case centered on intoxicated driving
CBS New York reported that officers said Hyden had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and smelled of alcohol after the crash, and that prosecutors said he had been driving with a suspended license.
Gothamist reported that Hyden was convicted of second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and assault. Judge April Newbauer sentenced him to 24 years to life in prison in January 2026.
Water Street had already seen repeated harm
The crash site is at Water Street and Jackson Street in Manhattan. CrashCountNYC location context for Water Street in Manhattan shows 125 crashes, 61 injuries, two serious injuries and four deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.