Jinaraya Khan of Baldwin pleads guilty in high-speed DWI crash that killed man about to retire

A Baldwin woman admitted on Monday to driving drunk and killing a 66-year-old man in May 2022 when she crashed her 2020 BMW into his car while driving 96 mph.

Jinaraya Khan, 33, whose blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit after the wreck, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, assault in the second degree and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Her car smashed into Scott Freeman, 66, a worker at a print shop who was set to retire soon, according to authorities. Freeman was turning left onto Grand Avenue around 5 a.m. on May 3 near his home in North Baldwin when Khan slammed into his red 2011 Toyota Corolla, authorities said.

“Scott Freeman was a longtime Baldwin resident who was looking forward to his retirement,” Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said. “Tragically, Freeman never got to enjoy his golden years because this defendant drove her SUV into the victim’s car at 96 miles an hour while she was exceedingly intoxicated. Drunk, impaired and reckless driving is at crisis levels here on Long Island and this office is dedicated to holding offenders accountable. Our condolences are with Scott’s sister and many friends who continue to mourn his loss.”

The district attorney said Freeman planned to retire this year.

Khan claimed she had just two mimosas before getting in her car and was speeding because she was late for work at her JetBlue job at Kennedy Airport. Her blood alcohol content registered 0.25%, well above the 0.08 legal limit, nearly an hour after the crash, prosecutors said. She suffered minor injuries and remained at the scene.

Her lawyer originally argued she had the right of way and that Freeman's driving caused the crash, but on Monday he dropped that defense.

“It’s a tragic situation,” Khan’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, said. “She pleaded guilty and is accepting responsibility.”

He said his client has never been in trouble with the law before the accident.

“It was just one bad decision,” Lazzaro said.

The district attorney’s office recommended up to 21 years in prison for her crime, but Khan is more likely to face a maximum sentence of 18 years at her next court appearance in March.

Traffic fatalities continue to plague Long Island after the pandemic, a recent Newsday investigation found, surging to their highest levels since 2015.

Deadly car wrecks claimed the lives of 243 Long Islanders in 2022, the year Freeman was killed, a nearly 30% rise over 2019, data collected by the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research shows.

The speed limit on Grand Avenue is 35 mph, 61 mph slower than Khan's estimated speed.

Speed was a factor in 64 fatal crashes in 2022, according to authorities, up from 14 in 2019. Drunken driving crashes jumped from 14 to 21 over the same period.