Jaden D'Souza, of Queens, gets up to 18 years for fatal Long Island crash that killed his sister, another woman

A Queens man who prosecutors said was high on marijuana when he caused a high-speed crash on the Southern State Parkway that killed his sister and another woman last year was sentenced to up to 18 years in prison on Friday during a gut-wrenching hearing in a packed Nassau County courtroom.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Caryn Fink told Jaden D’Souza that his reckless actions rained "two tragedies" — his incarceration and the death of his sister, Haily D’Souza, 21 — down on his grieving family, calling it "one of the most difficult cases" she has ever handled. Then she imposed an indeterminate 7-to-18-year sentence on the 20-year-old defendant.

"Can you imagine being that parent, you’d have to bury your daughter, and now watch your son get sentenced?" Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said after Friday’s hearing in Mineola.

D’Souza did not address the court, but he wept as he hugged his sobbing mother and other relatives outside the courtroom while waiting for the hearing to begin. He also approached Yajaira Figueroa, the mother of his friend Crystal Alba-Figueroa, 23, who also died in the Jan. 12, 2025, crash before giving the anguished mom a long, extended hug.

D’Souza’s attorney, Donald Rollock, of Mineola, told the court that his client was a decent person who was deeply remorseful for the deaths he caused, calling him "a kid who messed up." He expressed sympathy to the grief-wracked families who crowded into the courtroom.

"I’m not sugar-coating my client’s behavior," Rollock said. "He messed up huge and he sees the damage it has caused."

Yajaira Figueroa was too overcome by tears and emotion during the hearing to read her victim impact statement, so she stood next to Assistant District Attorney Katie Zizza as the prosecutor read the prepared remarks. The loss of her daughter, Figueroa’s statement said, is "an open wound I carry with me every day."

Figueroa did not express any bitterness toward D’Souza, saying that she would leave it to Fink to determine an appropriate punishment.

"I do not seek revenge," the mother said.

Prosecutors said D’Souza was recklessly driving a 2016 Dodge Dart eastbound on the Southern State at about 11:05 p.m. that January night. The defendant was weaving in and out of lanes at a high rate of speed, hitting 123 mph right before the crash.

D’Souza lost control of the vehicle near Exit 30, and the Dodge drove off the road and crashed into a tree on the grassy shoulder. The vehicle came to rest upside down on the shoulder, according to the district attorney’s office. Alba-Figueroa who was sitting in the back of the Dart with Haily D’Souza, was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Haily D’Souza, trapped in the Dart, was also pronounced dead at the scene.

A front-seat passenger, Anthonie Marte, 24, suffered a traumatic brain injury, spinal fractures and other serious injuries in the crash. Zizza called his injuries life-altering and said the once-independent young man now depends on his elderly grandmother.

A spare tire was dislodged from the Dart during the crash, and it struck another eastbound vehicle. That vehicle crashed into the guardrail, injuring the driver.

Investigators later recovered cannabis products in the crash debris and vehicle, including THC-infused products, rolling papers, a bong and lighters. Blood drawn from D'Souza the night of the crash revealed a high level of the active and impairing component of cannabis.

Rollock called on New York State lawmakers while addressing the judge to pass legislation that would crack down on the aggressive driving that sparked D’Souza’s accident. He said cameras should be installed on highways and the owners of vehicles used in aggressive driving incidents should be heavily fined, and that their cars should be seized.

He said tragedies like the one that landed his client in prison are preventable — but politicians need to act. 

"They sit there and talk and talk and talk," he said of Albany legislators, "and they do nothing."