NYPD Officer Won’t Face Charges in Queens Park Death
An NYPD officer identified in news reports as Devone drove over 38-year-old pedestrian Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez on United Nations Avenue South in Queens, where the city record lists driver inattention or distraction and the attorney general later declined charges.
What We Know
On Aug. 23, 2025, the city crash record says a licensed female driver in a 2015 Ford sedan was going west and straight ahead on United Nations Avenue South in Queens when a crash killed a 38-year-old pedestrian; it lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. News accounts and the attorney general’s review identify the driver as an NYPD officer named Devone, with Streetsblog spelling the first name Lavonje and Queens Daily Eagle spelling it Levonje. Articles said Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez was lying in the roadway inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park during U.S. Open operations, after Mets employees had alerted police. James’s office concluded prosecutors could not prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and did not seek charges.
A warning came before the crash
The city crash record places the crash at 4:39 p.m. on Aug. 23, 2025, at 14 United Nations Avenue South in Queens. It says a licensed female driver in a 2015 Ford sedan was traveling west and going straight ahead when the crash killed one pedestrian, a 38-year-old man.
News accounts place the incident around 4:37 p.m. and report that Mets employees had alerted an NYPD sergeant after seeing Gonzalez lying in the roadway. Streetsblog reported that the alert came about a minute before the crash, while Queens Daily Eagle described it as a few minutes before the officers turned onto the road.
An interior park road during U.S. Open traffic
CrashCountNYC location context identifies the site as 14 United Nations Avenue South in Queens, on the United Nations Avenue South street segment. The city crash record places the location in ZIP code 11355.
Gonzalez was identified after the fatal crash
The city record identifies the person killed as a 38-year-old male pedestrian. News accounts identified him as Erasmo Huerta Gonzalez and said he was lying in the roadway before the officer drove over him.
Streetsblog reported that Gonzalez moved to the United States from Mexico in 2012, had a teenage son, loved soccer, and was remembered as an upbeat person.
Distraction was central to the record and the review
The city crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. Streetsblog reported that investigators found Officer Devone had an open tube of lip gloss in her right hand and an applicator in her left hand as she drove, while Queens Daily Eagle reported that she appeared to have one headphone in her ear and that the sun was shining into the officers’ eyes.
Queens Daily Eagle reported that investigators said Devone was driving about 7 miles per hour and was not using her cell phone. Streetsblog reported that investigators concluded they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Devone was criminally negligent.
The attorney general declined charges
Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office would not seek criminal charges after reviewing body-worn camera footage, cell phone data, interviews and legal issues. amNY reported that the conclusion appeared to contradict eyewitness accounts that described officials being warned and a bystander yelling for the officer to stop.
Queens Daily Eagle reported that medics freed Gonzalez from beneath the cruiser and brought him to an ambulance, that his condition deteriorated, and that he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The same account said a medical examiner determined that he died of blunt force trauma to his torso.