Man lost niece to street-racing crash

For one man who lost his niece and goddaughter to a street-race crash, it's the utter senselessness of her death that leaves the wound fresh and difficult to heal.

"I ask myself every day, 'Why her?' " said Jean Maignan of Westbury, whose niece, Sophia Bretous, was killed along with her fiance, Jean Desir - innocent victims of a racing-related crash in 2002. The couple were also from Westbury.

Expensive cars driven by two racing teens, Blake Slade and Kyle Soukup, traveled at speeds approaching 140 mph when they broadsided Bretous and Desir's red Jeep as they turned onto Route 106 in Muttontown that June. Both racers served 2 1/2 years in prison for second-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.

Slade could not be reached yesterday, but after his release from prison, he spoke about the race and crash in 2008 to students at Great Neck North High School.

"What's the difference where I am at in the world - if I can go to college or what I can do with my life," he said at the time, "when I'm sitting here knowing that there's two people's deaths, there's two people's blood on my conscience that are going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life."

Soukup also could not be reached Sunday.

Maignan said he supported tougher laws, including jail time, for those caught drag racing, but felt it may not be enough. "It should happen to them, not innocent people," he said. In any case, Maignan had a message for anyone tempted to use public roads for racing.

"Don't do it, because it's not worth it," he said. "Not only are you killing somebody, but you'll hurt your own family, too. You're going to jail."