Driver charged after passenger dies in Brooklyn school-bus crash
At 1:16 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2025, official records show a fatal crash at Van Sinderen and Blake avenues; prosecutors say Tyree Epps sped through a stop sign before a crash that killed passenger Imani Vance.
What We Know
Imani Vance, 26, died after a Feb. 27, 2025 crash at Van Sinderen and Blake avenues in Brooklyn. The official record lists unsafe speed in a crash involving a sedan, a bus and a parked box truck, with one motorist killed and one injured. Prosecutors say Tyree Epps, an unlicensed driver, drove a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 south on Van Sinderen Avenue, disregarded a stop sign at Blake Avenue and hit a school bus that had no passengers aboard. They say Epps fled, was arrested, and was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, leaving the scene, speeding, disobeying stop signs and unlicensed driving.
Prosecutors say the driver ignored a stop sign
The official crash record places the crash at Van Sinderen Avenue and Blake Avenue in Brooklyn at 1:16 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2025. It records one motorist killed, one motorist injured, unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and a collision involving a sedan, a bus and a parked box truck.
According to prosecutors, Tyree Epps drove a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 south on Van Sinderen Avenue with Imani Vance in the front passenger seat, went through a stop sign at Blake Avenue at high speed, and hit a school bus traveling on Blake Avenue. Prosecutors said the bus had no passengers and was pushed into a third, unoccupied vehicle.
Imani Vance was the passenger who died
The official record identifies the person killed as a 26-year-old female front-seat passenger. Multiple later accounts named her as Imani Vance, 26, and reported that medics took her to Brookdale Hospital, where she died from blunt impact injuries. News12's account differed, reporting a 24-year-old passenger who was pronounced dead at the scene before authorities released her identity.
The Daily News reported that Vance had recently returned to New York after living in Virginia, worked three jobs, and hoped to enroll in nursing school. Her family told the paper they believed she had recently met Epps before he offered her a ride.
The crash happened on a Blake Avenue corridor with repeated harm
The fatal crash occurred at Van Sinderen Avenue and Blake Avenue in Brooklyn.
CrashCountNYC location context for Blake Avenue in Brooklyn shows 580 crashes, 410 injuries, 23 serious injuries and 2 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Speed and a disregarded stop sign are central to the case
The official record lists unsafe speed for the crash and lists unsafe speed and traffic-control disregarded for the sedan driver. Prosecutors similarly allege that Epps ignored a stop sign and drove at excessive speed.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, "The tragic loss of Imani Vance was allegedly caused by the defendant's reckless decision to ignore a stop sign and drive at excessive speeds."
Epps was indicted and held without bail
Police and prosecutors said Epps fled after the crash. The District Attorney's account says he ran from the scene, got into an Uber, then fled on foot after police stopped the ride; officers chased and arrested him.
Prosecutors charged Epps with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, leaving the scene without reporting, disobeying stop signs, speeding and unlicensed driving. A Brooklyn judge ordered him held without bail after his April indictment.