Patrick Destine sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for his fatal attack on David McKenzie of Baldwin

A Queens man with a violent criminal history was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years to life in prison for the road rage beating death of another driver in Baldwin last spring.

Patrick Destine, 28, pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder, felony possession of stolen property and two counts of driving while impaired by alcohol for his attack on David McKenzie, 54, on April 15, 2023.

Destine had previously been convicted of robbery in Queens in 2015.

According to authorities, McKenzie was heading home in his 2003 Honda minivan, just steps away from the Shuman Place and Forest Avenue intersection, when he collided just after 11 p.m. with Destine, driving without headlights in his 2004 Infiniti.

Destine, of Hollis, Queens, had just bought the used luxury car and was driving without insurance or registration, Nassau County police said shortly after the crash.

Destine blew through a stop sign and smashed into the side of McKenzie’s minivan.

"Mr. McKenzie was mere feet away from his house trying to walk away from this accident," Nassau prosecutor Daryl Levy said at Tuesday's hearing.

Enraged, Destine chased after McKenzie, knocking him to the ground where he punched, kicked and stomped him in the face and head, according to police.

Destine, who was with his girlfriend Aisha Pitt, then went into the mortally injured man’s Honda and took his credit cards and driver’s license, police said.

First responders took McKenzie to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m.

Pitt, 20, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property last year and served 6 months behind bars.

Michelle McKenzie, the victim’s sister, said during the sentencing hearing that her family has been turned upside down by the death of her brother.

"Our family has been shattered and the pieces will never fully be put back together," she said.

She said little things in her daily life will remind her of her brother and she will suddenly be reduced to tears. Her mother, whose health is deteriorating, "struggles to deal with her grief daily."

"No punishment can bring David back, but we seek justice and call for [Destine] to be never released from prison," she told the court.

Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim agreed.

"You don’t fit in with society," the judge told Destine before sentencing him. "You are going to go to the place where you should be and you should spend the rest of your life, or most of the rest of your life, there."

Destine, dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, said nothing, but his lawyer Scott Gross said his client wanted to pass along his remorse for his actions and said he had taken responsibility for what he had done.

"This alcohol-fueled rampage cost David his life and ultimately condemned the defendant to a future behind bars," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "Today, Destine is held accountable for his gratuitous and senseless violence that night. Our thoughts remain with David’s many family members and friends who continue to mourn."