MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Hempstead man was sentenced to three to six years in prison today for a 2016 fatal crash that killed his front seat passenger.
William Billups, 48, pled guilty on February 5 before Judge Robert Schwartz to Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony) – a top count plea.
“Brandee Dudley, a 33-year-old mother of two, was senselessly killed by this driver, who had a suspended license and sped through a stop sign to avoid a traffic stop,” DA Singas said. “Ms. Dudlee was a passenger in his car and sadly, in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
DA Singas said on November 2, 2016, at approximately 8:20 pm, NCPD officers pulled over the defendant’s vehicle, a 2001 Buick LeSabre, at the corner of Independence Avenue and Main Street in Freeport for speeding. After the car stopped, officers got out of their car, but the defendant drove away at a high rate of speed. The officers followed the Buick for a short time, but eventually lost sight of it.
Shortly after the vehicle stop, at approximately 8:30 pm, the officers came across a crash at the intersection of Rutland Road and Seaman Avenue in Freeport involving the Buick and a 2010 Mercedes 350 Series. It was determined that the Buick was traveling southbound on Rutland Road, when it drove through a stop sign at a high rate of speed and T-boned the Mercedes being driven westbound on Seaman Avenue. The force of the impact caused the Mercedes to roll over, crash through a white PVC fence, into a tree, and came to rest partially on the sidewalk and partially on the lawn of a house.
The defendant’s front seat passenger, Brandee Dudley, a 33-year-old mother of two, died because of injuries sustained in the crash. The driver of the Mercedes suffered minor injuries. After the crash, it was determined the defendant was driving with a suspended license and with his pedal to the floor of the car – going approximately 50 mph.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Dellinger and Assistant District Attorney Alexander DePalo of DA Singas’ Vehicular Crimes Bureau are prosecuting this case. Dana Grossblatt, Esq. represents the defendant.
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