Daniel Hyden, a 46-year-old former addiction counselor from New Jersey, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 24 years to life in state prison for the Daniel Hyden July 4 crash in Manhattan, in which he drove drunk into a crowd of Fourth of July celebrants at Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side, killing four people and injuring seven others.
What Happened at Corlears Hook Park
At about 8:52 p.m. on July 4, 2024, Hyden drove a Ford F-150 northbound on Water Street in Lower Manhattan. Prosecutors said he ran a stop sign at 39 mph, then reached up to 54 mph through a construction zone, mounted the sidewalk, tore through a chain-link fence, and drove into a Fourth of July barbecue in Corlears Hook Park.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces Sentencing in Fatal Fourth of July Drunk Driving Crash The gas pedal was fully pressed down, and Hyden did not touch the brake until half a second before impact.2NBC News. Driver Who Ran Into Fourth of July Crowd in New York City Sentenced to 24 Years to Life
When the truck stopped, Hyden shifted into reverse to try to leave. Bystanders reached in and pulled the keys from the ignition.3NBC New York. Drunk Driver Who Ran Over NYC Families Celebrating July 4 Sentenced
Four people were killed: Lucile Pinkney, 59; her son Herman Pinkney, 38; Ana Morel, 43; and Emily Ruiz, 30. The first three died at the scene. Ruiz died five days later.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces Sentencing in Fatal Fourth of July Drunk Driving Crash Seven others were injured, four of them seriously with head, arm, and back injuries. The youngest injured victim was 11 years old.4ABC 7 New York. Daniel Hyden Sentenced to 24 Years to Life Behind Bars
The Hour Before the Crash
Earlier that evening, Hyden tried to board a party boat at Pier 36 on the Lower East Side and was turned away because he was too intoxicated, according to police body camera footage shown at trial.5People. He Wrote a Sobriety Book, Now He’s Convicted of Murder in Drunk Crash He fought with security. Officers responded, walked him to a nearby park bench, and left him there without arresting him.6CBS News New York. July 4 Deadly NYC Crash Trial Day 2 Less than an hour later he was behind the wheel of the F-150.7Arab News. Driver Who Ran Into Fourth of July Crowd Sentenced to 24 Years to Life
His blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was .17, more than twice New York’s legal limit.8ABC 7 New York. Daniel Hyden Found Guilty on All Counts of Second-Degree Murder
An Addiction Counselor Who Wrote a Sobriety Book
Hyden had spent years working in addiction recovery in New York, including as a counselor at Montefiore and an addiction clinician at Lincoln Hospital, and as a program director for Services for the UnderServed.9New York Post. Suspected Drunk Driver in Deadly LES Crash Is Addiction Counselor
In 2020 he self-published a book, The Sober Addict: A Guide on How to Be Functional With the Dysfunctional Disease of Addiction, describing himself as an “ex-professional addict” whose mission was “to use his lifelong experience with addiction to teach addicts how to save themselves and achieve long-term recovery.”10NBC News. Driver Who Plowed Into NYC Fourth of July Gathering Was Substance Abuse Counselor Prosecutors read a line from that book back at trial: “I was a real danger to others and myself when I was on the road intoxicated.”5People. He Wrote a Sobriety Book, Now He’s Convicted of Murder in Drunk Crash
His record included a 2015 DUI arrest in Wisconsin that was resolved with a guilty plea to a traffic offense and dismissal of the DUI.11ABC 7 New York. Suspected Drunk Driver Plows Into Lower East Side Crowd In February 2023, while teaching at a recovery program in East Harlem, he was arrested for assault after punching a 41-year-old student who objected to his methods, and he left that job around the time of the arrest.12Yahoo News. Driver Who Plowed Into Crowd at NYC Park
A Murder Conviction, Not Just Vehicular Homicide
Hyden waived a jury and was tried before Justice April A. Newbauer in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in a two-week bench trial.13New York Times. Manhattan Drunken Driving Conviction The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged the killings as second-degree murder under New York’s depraved indifference theory rather than as vehicular homicide alone.
Senior Trial Counsel Matthew Bogdanos told the court that Hyden kept accelerating as he struck people: “The only reason the car stops, horrifically, is because it’s on human beings.”14New York Post. Daniel Hyden Convicted in July 4 Horror Crash That Killed Four District Attorney Alvin Bragg called Hyden’s actions “irresponsible, callous and criminal.”13New York Times. Manhattan Drunken Driving Conviction
The defense argued the crash was not intentional, telling the court Hyden had injured his driving foot in the Pier 36 scuffle and lost control.15CBS News New York. Corlears Hook Park Truck Crash Trial Justice Newbauer rejected the argument. On November 3, 2025, she convicted him on all 12 counts, including four counts of second-degree murder, one for each person killed, along with aggravated vehicular homicide and seven assault counts covering the injured survivors.14New York Post. Daniel Hyden Convicted in July 4 Horror Crash That Killed Four
The Sentence and What Families Said
On January 16, 2026, Justice Newbauer sentenced Hyden to 24 years to life.1Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces Sentencing in Fatal Fourth of July Drunk Driving Crash She told him that on the night of the crash he “valued human life slightly, if at all” and chose behavior he “knew could lead to someone’s death.”16CBS News New York. Daniel Hyden NYC 4th of July Crash Sentence
Eight victims and family members spoke. Lilian Ruiz, mother of Emily Ruiz, described her grandson Kai-El, now seven: “How can I express how it feels to hold him close at bedtime and hear him whisper in the silence, ‘I want Mommy’?” Starkema Lewis, a relative of Lucile and Herman Pinkney, spoke to Hyden’s counseling career: “Someone who built a career telling others not to make the same choices he made that night. He knew what could happen. He knew the devastation caused by drunk driving, and yet despite multiple prior DUI incidents, he still chose to get behind the wheel.” Ana Morel’s family wrote, “We can’t see Fourth of July as a celebration. This day will forever haunt us.”17New York Post. Heartbroken Families Describe Pain at Sentencing of July 4 Drunk Driver
Hyden addressed the court and expressed remorse, referencing his own sister’s death in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver in New Jersey in 2021. “What kind of human being would put others through the same thing he went through?” he said.16CBS News New York. Daniel Hyden NYC 4th of July Crash Sentence His attorneys described him as a military veteran who had relapsed after his sister’s death, and said he had been preparing to speak at the sentencing of the driver who killed her when he committed the July 4 crash.18People. Drunk Driver Daniel Hyden Killed 4 in Crowded NYC Park Sentenced
Appeal
Hyden’s attorneys said they plan to appeal the murder conviction.16CBS News New York. Daniel Hyden NYC 4th of July Crash Sentence Second-degree murder convictions in New York drunk driving cases are uncommon, because prosecutors must prove depraved indifference to human life rather than only recklessness. Hyden is serving his sentence in state prison.