Michael DeAngelo pleads guilty in crash that killed 4 members of 1 family

A Lindenhurst man pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing four members of a family last summer in a high-speed crash on Sunrise Highway in East Massapequa while high on cocaine and fentanyl.

Michael DeAngelo, 33, could face up to 21 years in prison at sentencing after entering pleas to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, second- and third-degree assault and driving while impaired on drugs — nine counts in all.

He admitted in court Wednesday to going more than 100 mph on the night of Aug. 6 before slamming into a vehicle at Unqua Road and Sunrise Highway. That vehicle, driven by Patrice Huntley, 60, of Flushing, was carrying five of members of his Uniondale family. 

Huntley, a Marine veteran, was taking the group, which included his 10-year-old son, Jeremiah Huntley, his 13-year-old daughter, Hannah Huntley, and his 6-year-old step-granddaughter, Chantel Solomon, 6, to get ice cream to celebrate him landing a new job.

The father, son and daughter were killed in the crash. Chantel was taken to a hospital but died six days later. Brienna Peoples, Huntley's 18-year-old daughter, and his 14-year-old nephew, who were also in the car, were hospitalized but survived.

“Michael DeAngelo is one of the most staggeringly reckless defendants I have ever known,” Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a news conference after the hearing. “No sentence will ever be enough to ease the pain of this heartbroken family, their friends, and their community. How many more hearts must break before people learn that drugged driving destroys lives?”

DeAngelo, who has a 2013 conviction in Nassau County for driving while high, was arrested in Suffolk County on Aug. 1 on a charge of crack possession. Donnelly said officers found the drugs in his shorts.

“Two days later, after an apparent overdose, he was administered Narcan and bolted in his car after the officers told him he needed medical attention — the very same car he was in when he ended those four precious lives,” the district attorney said. Donnelly said his speed topped 120 mph before impact.

DeAngelo’s lawyer, Karl Seman, said his client has a drug addiction but is deeply remorseful.

“He has taken full responsibility,” Seman said. “He's being judged on five minutes of poor judgment versus the entire rest of his life.”

Seman said DeAngelo suffered a seizure from the cocaine and fentanyl he had ingested before getting behind the wheel the night of the crash.

“He wants the family to know that from Day One, this was never intentional. He never woke up one day and said let me have a tragic accident,” Seman said. “By his plea, he's making that statement to the family, understanding that it was a tragic accident, not an intentional act.”

Needles and a pipe were found in DeAngelo's car after the crash, and the treating physician identified track marks on his arms and hands, according to court records.

Donnelly said there has been no evidence presented that DeAngelo was unconscious or suffering a seizure at the time of the crash.

The family of the children said 21 years isn't enough.

“This has impacted my life forever. I can't get my children back,” Divina Hamilton, the mother of Chantel Solomon, said following the hearing. After prison, “he's got the chance to go on about his life like nothing ever happened. And I can't ever see my baby again.”

State Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz, who presided over the sentencing, said DeAngelo's guilty plea makes him eligible to receive a reduced sentence of 7 to 21 years in prison, rather than the maximum 8 1/3 to 25 years.

DeAngelo will return to court for sentencing on June 28.