QUEENS, NY – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kevin Drawhorne, 27, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on criminally negligent homicide charges and other crimes for allegedly hitting and killing one man and injuring another on January 29, 2021.
The victim was a Good Samaritan who had stopped on the side of the road to help a motorist with a disabled vehicle.
District Attorney Katz said, “A man who was doing a good deed – helping another driver with car trouble – was senselessly killed by another motorist allegedly driving at a high rate of speed. That driver allegedly fled the scene. He did not call 911. He did not stop to help. This kind of behavior is not only callous, but also criminal and the defendant now faces serious charges.”
Drawhorne, of Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, was arraigned yesterday afternoon before Queens Supreme Court Justice John Zoll on a seven-count indictment charging him with criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, operating or driving a motor vehicle without a license, operating a motor vehicle with a tinted window and driving in excess of the maximum speed limit.
Justice Zoll set the defendant’s return date for March 16, 2021. If convicted, Drawhorne faces up to 7 years in prison. District Attorney Katz said that on January 29th, shortly after 8:00 p.m., a 2001 Dodge Caravan began experiencing mechanical problems.
The driver of the vehicle pulled into the left lane of the Nassau Expressway in the vicinity of North Hangar Road. Moments later, the victim, who was behind the wheel of a 2005 Audi A6 pulled over in front of the Caravan in an attempt to provide aid.
While both men were standing on the left shoulder, the defendant, who was in a 2012 Ford Econoline van, allegedly going about 70 mph, crashed into the minivan and struck both men on the side of the road. Instead of stopping to tend to the victims or calling police, the defendant is accused of fleeing the scene.
According to the charges, Mr. Michael Agurkis was knocked to the ground and sustained severe injuries to his torso. He was transported to a local Queens hospital where he later succumbed to the injuries. The second pedestrian suffered leg pain but refused medical attention at the scene. Drawhorne was arrested yesterday morning without incident.