(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Annmarie Donadeo, 51, of Copiague, was sentenced today to four to 12 years in prison for striking a vehicle and killing a pedestrian when she was driving while intoxicated.
“This defendant’s choices and actions resulted in an unspeakable tragedy for the family of Travis Kinard,” said District Attorney Tierney. “The defendant chose to endanger Suffolk County residents through her selfish and senseless conduct and in the process, caused the death of an innocent individual who was simply retrieving items from a parked vehicle. This sentence cannot possibly begin to address the loss that has been suffered in this case, but unfortunately, it is the most that can be hoped for given the leniency of our vehicular manslaughter laws.”
According to the investigation, on August 24, 2021, at approximately 9:10 p.m., Donadeo was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer on Hawkins Boulevard in Copiague after drinking for approximately four and a half hours at a local bar. While she was driving, the victim, Travis Kinard, was getting toys out of the rear of a parked minivan that was in front of his girlfriend’s house.
Kinard was between the minivan and a parked Hyundai Elantra when Donadeo struck the Elantra causing Kinard to become pinned between the two parked cars. Donadeo’s vehicle continued a short distance before it became disabled. Kinard was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of the injuries he sustained from the crash.
While speaking with police, Donadeo exhibited signs of intoxication, made admissions to drinking alcohol, and subsequently performed poorly on field sobriety tests. A sample of Donadeo’s blood, which was taken more than two hours after the crash, was tested and revealed that her blood alcohol concentration was .21%, more than twice the legal limit.
On October 18, 2022, Donadeo pleaded guilty before County Court Judge, the Honorable Stephen L. Braslow, to Vehicular Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class C felony, and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, a Class A misdemeanor. In addition to her sentence, Judge Braslow ordered her license revoked. She was represented by Vincent Grande, Esq.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jacob Delauter of the Vehicular Crime Bureau.