EX-NYPD officer, Bay Shore woman accused of driving about 100 mph side by side before fatal crash in West Islip

An ex-NYPD officer and a Bay Shore woman both pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges Tuesday in connection with a 2024 high-speed crash that killed a Lindenhurst woman.

Stanley Luc Cadet, 27, of North Babylon, and Kayla Lopez, 28, of Bay Shore, were both indicted by a grand jury in the May 11, 2024, crash that killed Anna Wilson, 22, of Lindenhurst.

Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed a special prosecutor from the attorney general's office to prosecute the case in Suffolk County court because Cadet was an off-duty NYPD officer at the time, driving his personal car.

Special counsel Joseph Bianco said in court Tuesday that the two cars were traveling next to each other, each going about 100 mph, when they drove through a steady red light on Union Boulevard, just east of Route 231 in West Islip. They collided at about 2:30 a.m. and Lopez crashed her 2023 Infinity Q50 into a telephone pole, ejecting Wilson, who was one of four passengers in the car. Another passenger was also seriously injured.

Wilson was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

Investigators said Cadet was driving his 2020 Hyundai Sonata at 99 mph and Lopez was driving 108 mph while traveling side by side for about a half mile. Lopez was driving in the turn lane near the Route 231 overpass when she attempted to exit and the vehicles collided, sideswiping each other, prosecutors said.

Attorney general officials said she struck multiple telephone poles after she lost control, injuring the other three passengers.

Police said Cadet and a passenger in the Hyundai were not injured.

Cadet and Lopez were arraigned separately Tuesday in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. Their driver's licenses have both been suspended.

They were both charged with second-degree manslaughter and vehicular assault charges. They were also both charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving, excessive speed and failure to obey a traffic control device.

Both defendants voluntarily surrendered to prosecutors in Riverhead prior to their arraignment Tuesday morning.

Judge Richard Ambro ordered them both to report to probation under supervised release while the case continues.

Wilson's family gathered in court during the arraignment but declined to speak with reporters.

A Legal Aid attorney for Cadet declined to comment. Cadet's attorney said in court that there was no malicious intent or allegations of drugs and alcohol involved and said Cadet had no prior criminal history.

Lopez's attorney, Sean Dixon, said Lopez was acting as a designated driver for Wilson and her friends at the time of the crash when she struck a pothole and lost control.

Dixon, outside of court, disputed that she was speeding at the time of the crash. He blamed Cadet for causing the crash while speeding.

"She was driving home and unfortunately, she hit a pothole and lost control of her vehicle. The other car, the co-defendant, Mr. Cadet, was an off-duty police officer, certainly educated in the safe operation of a vehicle, abandoned his knowledge of that and caused the death of Miss Wilson. She came here today, voluntarily surrendered herself to plead not guilty, and we trust that she would be found not guilty," Dixon said.

"My client has absolutely no prior criminal history," he added. 

Ambro said he would have to consider Lopez's driving record, which included a prior crash with injuries as a teenager and several red-light tickets, as the case went forward.

Attorneys said both Lopez and Cadet were cooperating with attorney general investigators and are scheduled to return to court Nov. 17 for the next hearing.

By law, the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation "assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed." 

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.