Prayer for alleged drunken driver before fatal West Hempstead crash: 'God be with him'

A woman who survived a crash last summer with an alleged drunken driver that killed her 6-year-old daughter prayed that “God be with him” moments before the collision, according to documents filed Tuesday in Nassau Supreme Court.

Lorena Hernandez, whose daughter Katrine Venegas-Hernandez died in the 2 a.m., Aug. 7 crash in West Hempstead, told police at the scene that she saw the driver speeding east on Hempstead Turnpike just before prosecutors allege he ran a red light and slammed into the family’s 2009 Toyota Corolla, parked on the side of the road, according to transcripts of Nassau Police bodycam recordings. Hernandez's young son and her sister were also in the Corolla. 

“I just said to my sister that may God be with him,” she told an officer, “in case he was drunk and all that.”

According to Assistant District Attorney Katie Zizza, the driver, Jorge Bonilla Gutierrez, 18, had a blood alcohol content of .17 — more than twice the legal limit of .08 in New York State. Gutierrez pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment on a felony indictment that included several counts of manslaughter, assault and drunk driving.

Gutierrez, a young father himself, lost control of his 2005 Nissan Pathfinder and slammed into the driver's side of the Toyota, which had pulled over to the side of the road so family members could collect discarded items to spruce up their home, according to the transcripts. The Corolla's hazard lights were blinking, Nassau police said.

“My daughter was playing with a little doll, and my son was next to her,” Hernandez told police after the crash.

The impact crushed the driver’s side of the Corolla, causing the car to flip several times before slamming into a tree, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.

“The force of the impact propelled the vehicle into a tree and sadly, Katerine died shortly afterward at the hospital,” Donnelly said in a statement Tuesday. “This crash is yet another reminder that drunk driving kills innocent people every day.”

The girl was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital, but died soon after arrival, just days before her seventh birthday. Her 5-year-old brother suffered spinal injuries and their father, who was outside of the car, broke six ribs, according to authorities. Hernandez and her sister suffered injuries but recovered.

In court Tuesday, Zizza repeated previous court findings that Gutierrez had no license at the time of the crash and had been convicted in June for unlicensed driving.

A lawyer for Gutierrez, who remains jailed pending trial, declined to comment on the case. 

Crash investigators said that cans of Modelo beer were found in the car and Gutierrez smelled of alcohol.

He admitted drinking before getting behind the wheel but claimed he was sober enough to drive.

“We were at La Bachata, but I only drank two beers,” he told police, according to transcripts of bodycam recordings.

Members of the Hernandez family attended the hearing but declined to comment on the case.

Deadly crashes on Long Island roadways have jumped by almost a third from 2019 to 2022, according to data collected by the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. Fatal crashes involving speed have more than doubled over the past four years. Alcohol-related vehicular fatalities spiked 50% over the same period.