Corey Henson, of Centereach, sentenced to up to 7 years in prison for fatal hit-and-run

A Centereach man who fatally struck a 30-year-old father in a July 2022 Island Park hit-and-run was sentenced to up to 7 years in prison on Monday, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.

Corey Henson, 33, was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison in the crash that killed Dodanim Emanual Chavez, prosecutors said. Henson pleaded guilty Nov. 15 to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, and driving while intoxicated, before Judge Christopher Hoefenkrieg.

On July 11, 2022, at 9:07 p.m., Chavez was moving belongings to a new home with the help of two friends, Donnelly said.

Chavez was standing on the driver’s side of his friend’s pickup truck on Long Beach Road when he was struck by Henson, who was southbound in a 2022 Ford Transit Connect, police said.

Henson then fled the scene.

Chavez suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside where he was pronounced dead, police said.

“Dodanim Emanuel Chavez was a devoted husband and father, who was simply moving furniture to a new home with the help of some friends when he was struck and killed by an intoxicated Corey Henson,” Donnelly said in a statement.

After the fatal crash, Henson ran his van into a guardrail on South Main Street in Freeport, and the vehicle was towed to a local yard. The following day, a Freeport police officer contacted the Nassau police about the damaged van when he learned of the fatal hit-and-run.

Henson was arrested on July 13, 2022, by Nassau and Freeport police when he arrived at the tow yard to claim his van.

An investigation revealed that prior to the hit-and-run, Henson drank multiple alcoholic beverages over the course of two hours at a local restaurant, and was intoxicated when he struck Chavez, police said.

Henson previously pleaded not guilty to the charges in May. Robert Schalk, Henson’s attorney, did not respond for comment.