Wrong-way crash lawsuit names Syosset teen, club, off-duty NYPD officer

The fiancee of a Manhattan man killed in a wrong-way crash last year has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Syosset teen accused of causing the crash and the Manhattan nightclub that allegedly served the teen alcohol before he drove, as well as an off-duty NYPD officer who later "undertook a pursuit" of the teen.

Shauntea Weaver, who was set to marry Kirk Walker, 38, filed the lawsuit last week against Jimmy Connors, 17 at the time. Connors is criminally charged with driving drunk and going the wrong way in the Aug. 24 crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Washington Heights. Walker and his cousin Robert McLurin were killed.

Connors, who had been living at a Syosset juvenile home, was arrested a day after the crash near the border with Canada — his hoped-for final destination, prosecutors have alleged.

He pleaded not guilty in October to a nine-count indictment charging him with murder with depraved indifference, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Weaver filed the lawsuit on behalf of Walker’s estate against Mixx Lifestyle Inc. — the owner of Nebula nightclub in midtown Manhattan; the Ontario, Canada-based company that owned the vehicle Connors was allegedly driving; off-duty NYPD Officer Boubacar Barry; the police department; and New York City. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Attorneys for Weaver and Connors could not be reached for comment. Nebula, the NYPD and the mayor’s office did not respond to inquiries. Neither Barry nor the Ontario company could be reached for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that Connors, 17 at the time of the crash, had been drinking inside the Nebula nightclub on West 41st Street.

"Defendant Connors was visibly, actually, and apparently intoxicated, and defendant Nebula, through its personnel, knew or reasonably should have known of his intoxicated condition," the lawsuit states. "Notwithstanding this knowledge, defendant Nebula continued to serve him alcohol, thereby unlawfully contributing to his intoxication."

Connors then left shortly after 2 a.m. in a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado pickup registered with Canadian license plates to the Ontario company, according to the lawsuit, which identified the company as "2703043 ONTARIO INC."

Barry, who was off duty and driving in a Toyota RAV4 SUV, saw Connors strike another vehicle and "undertook a pursuit of Connors in his capacity as a police officer and operated his vehicle in a reckless and dangerous manner, including driving against the flow of traffic on a public highway," the lawsuit states.

Barry followed Connors heading south in the northbound lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway, "while both speeding excessively and driving erratically," according to the lawsuit.

Walker was also on the parkway, driving north, when, prosecutors have alleged, Connors later struck his car about 2:30 a.m. near West 165th Street.

Weaver's lawsuit states that "defendant Connors, while fleeing from Barry’s pursuit, "collided with Plaintiff’s decedent, causing his death."

After Connors’ crashed truck burst into flames, he jumped out and climbed over a center median and into some woods, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested near the Canadian border the next day, found with cuts and bruises and blood on his shirt while walking with a limp, according to authorities.

"Connors’ negligence directly and proximately caused the plaintiff’s, Kirk Walker’s, death," the lawsuit states.

Connors is scheduled to return to court for a hearing Aug. 12 in New York Supreme Criminal Court. No trial date has been set.

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.