Sotirios Spanos of Syosset pleads not guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in crash that killed Ismenia and Odalis Urena in August

A Syosset motorist who was allegedly drunk and speeding when his car crossed into opposite lanes of traffic in Laurel Hollow and killed a couple on Aug. 12 was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter and other crimes in an 11-count indictment.

Defense attorney Steven Epstein entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of Sotirios Spanos during an arraignment on Tuesday in Mineola before Nassau acting Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim. Sturim ordered Spanos, 33, to continue to be held without bail. Spanos is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 17. If convicted, Spanos faces up 25 years in prison.

Ismenia Urena, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene on Northern Boulevard. Her husband, Odalis Urena, also 37, was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The Syosset couple is survived by two young daughters.

“Our roads are literally turning red with the blood of innocent people,” Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said at a news conference following Spanos’ arraignment. “It’s turning into a horror show.”

The Urenas’ deaths followed a spate of fatal crashes in Nassau County in recent months allegedly caused by alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers. Four people were killed on Aug. 6 in East Massapequa by a driver allegedly high on cocaine and fentanyl, Nassau prosecutors said. The next day, an alleged drunken driver slammed into a parked car in West Hempstead, killing a 6-year-old girl sitting in the back seat. Two teenage tennis players were killed in May in a crash caused by an alleged drunken driver in Jericho.

.“Northern Boulevard, Sunrise Highway, Hempstead Turnpike, Route 106, major roadways in our county, tragically, people are dying on them,” Donnelly said. “Ismenia and Odalis were killed because this defendant was allegedly drunk and speeding.”

Sturim’s courtroom was packed with Spanos supporters, as well as relatives and friends of the Urena family. Spanos, dressed in a blue suit jacket and slacks, did not speak during the hearing.

Some Urena supporters wore T-shirts with a photo of the couple on the front and “Justices (sic) for Ismenia and Odalis” on the back. Ted Stamas, a Westbury attorney representing the Urena family, said he hoped “to seek justice for this family, justice for those two little girls going forward.”

Prosecutors said the Urenas had gone out on a date and were traveling westbound on Northern Boulevard near Moores Hill Road just before the crash. Spanos was driving eastbound when his 2023 Acura MDX struck the front passenger side of the Urenas’ Ferrari convertible.

Spanos’ blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit of 0.08% more than three hours after the fatal collision, prosecutors said. According to the event data recorder in his Acura, he was traveling approximately 100 mph just seconds before impact and struck the Urenas' Ferrari at approximately 84.5 mph.

“Responsibility for situations like this is often difficult to understand and harder to comprehend, so I just ask everybody give the justice system an opportunity to resolve it,” Epstein said.

When asked about Epstein’s comments, Donnelly said Odals Urena had also been drinking the night of the collision and his blood alcohol content was also above the legal limit.

“While it is true Mr. Urena should not have been on the road that night driving, that does not excuse the criminality of the defendant,” the district attorney said.

Ismenia Urena’s sister, Crismairy Rodriguez said the couple’s daughters are doing OK despite their loss.

“Obviously, they miss their parents dearly,” she said.”But I think Odalis and Ismenia did a phenomenal job raising those two girls … Of course, they are touched, their lives will be forever touched. They are no longer going to have a mom and dad.”