Pregnant LI teen killed in motorcycle crash

Lauren Parris, 19, loved her fiance dearly. But she was afraid to ride on the motorcycle he had owned for the past few months and hoped he would sell it, her dad said Tuesday.

Late Monday, Parris, who earlier in the day had found out she was pregnant, was killed when she was thrown from the motorcycle her fiance, Matthew J. Byank, 19, was driving while speeding to evade police, authorities said.

Parris, of Mastic Beach, hated her fiance's motorcycle, her grieving father, Daniel Parris, said yesterday.

"She was terrified of the motorcycle," Daniel Parris said during an interview in the family living room in Mastic Beach. "She begged him to sell it. . . . She was scared to death."

In fact, said her father, Lauren Parris called her mother, Patricia, that evening to say she didn't want to go on the bike, but her own car was in the shop. Her mother told her to stay home, her father said.

"But she's a loyal kid, and she loved this guy," Daniel Parris said.

The couple met friends in Montauk Point and were heading back home when the crash occurred. According to police, a patrol car was parked on the westbound side of the road when the motorcycle blew past at high speed.

The officer followed for about three miles before he came onto the accident scene. East Hampton police will continue their investigation, including talking with crash witnesses. Police said Byank, of Manorville, likely lost control of the bike, crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a utility pole on Montauk Highway near Dolphin Drive in Amagansett, police said.

Parris and Byank were thrown from the motorcycle. Byank suffered a broken collarbone and sprained ankle.

Byank pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and unlawful fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle, as well as other traffic violations, at his arraignment in East Hampton Town Court Tuesday, according to his attorney, Tad Scharfenberg of Bohemia. According to police, Byank's driver's license had been suspended.

Byank is being held on a $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond, Scharfenberg said.

Parris attended William Floyd High School and was a student at Suffolk County Community College, her father said. She and Byank were already engaged, said the father, who added that they were childhood sweethearts.

Byank and his family are distraught over Parris' death, Scharfenberg said.

"These are good, hardworking people," he said. "Everyone was in tears in court . . . over the loss that has been suffered. . . . It's a terrible tragedy."

With Mitchell Freedman

and John Valenti