Bronx Driver Charged After Two Men Killed on Inwood Sidewalk
At about 4 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2022, police recorded two pedestrian deaths and five injuries at Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street, where prosecutors said Leandro Diaz-Ramirez drove 59 mph through a red light.
What We Know
Joel Adames, 31, and David Fernandez, 40, were killed near Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street just after 4 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2022. The city crash record lists two pedestrian deaths, five motorist injuries, a BMW sedan, a Subaru SUV and three parked vehicles, with unsafe speed recorded as a contributing factor. Manhattan prosecutors later said Leandro Diaz-Ramirez drove a BMW 59 mph in a 25 mph zone and went through a red light before colliding with another driver, forcing the Subaru onto the sidewalk. He was indicted on manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault charges.
A predawn collision reached the sidewalk
The crash happened at about 4 a.m. at Sherman Avenue and West 207th Street in Inwood. The city crash record lists two pedestrians killed and five motorists injured, with a sedan and an SUV among the moving vehicles involved.
Police and press accounts said a BMW driver traveled north on Sherman Avenue at high speed and went through a red light before colliding with a Subaru driver at the intersection. The collision forced the Subaru onto the sidewalk, where Joel Adames and David Fernandez were hit.
Accounts differ on the Subaru driver's movement
The city record lists the Subaru driver as traveling west and going straight. The New York Post described the Subaru driver as headed in the opposite direction from the BMW driver, while Gothamist reported that police said the Subaru driver was southbound and making a left turn.
Two pedestrians died, and reports differed on injury severity
Police identified the men killed as Joel Adames, 31, who lived nearby on Isham Street, and David Fernandez, 40, a Bronx resident. Paramedics took Adames to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital and Fernandez to Harlem Hospital, where both were pronounced dead.
The city crash record lists five motorists injured. An NYPD spokesperson told amNY that the five injured people were in stable condition, while the New York Post, citing the FDNY, reported that three of the five suffered serious injuries.
The official record lists five involved vehicles
The city record lists a 2012 BMW sedan driven north, a 2003 Subaru SUV driven west, and three parked, unoccupied vehicles: a 2012 Smart sedan, a 2013 Honda SUV and a 2007 Mercedes sedan. The BMW and Subaru were recorded as demolished.
Press accounts from police described the Subaru being forced into parked vehicles before the sidewalk. The New York Post described two parked, unoccupied vehicles; the official record lists three parked vehicles.
Speed and a red-light allegation were central to the case
The city crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and the BMW driver's record also lists traffic control disregarded. Manhattan prosecutors later alleged that Leandro Diaz-Ramirez drove 59 mph, more than double the 25 mph speed limit, and went through a red light before the collision.
Transportation Alternatives said the intersection was a traffic-violence hotspot and connected the crash to New York's limits on red-light cameras. The group said the ZIP code had no red-light camera and called on state lawmakers to lift the cap on the city program.
Police later arrested the BMW driver
Police arrested Bronx resident Leandro Diaz-Ramirez on Sept. 14, 2022, and charged him with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault, according to amNY. The report said both drivers stayed at the scene after the crash.
On Oct. 3, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced an indictment. Prosecutors said Diaz-Ramirez, then 28, faced five to 15 years in prison and was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault counts tied to the deaths and injuries.
Sherman Avenue had a record of repeated harm
The crash occurred on Sherman Avenue at West 207th Street in Inwood. amNY reported that the intersection had 55 crashes injuring 72 people over the previous 11 years, while a later amNY report using Crash Mapper counted 57 crashes, 78 injuries and the two pedestrian deaths over the same period.
Other sources described the danger on overlapping measures. The New York Post reported that Sherman Avenue had four traffic deaths in the previous decade and 68 injuries since 2018, while Transportation Alternatives said 36 people had been injured at the intersection over five years, including 12 pedestrians and two cyclists.