A man has been convicted on murder charges for driving drunk into a crowd of holiday revelers in Manhattan, killing four people and injuring several others. On Monday, November 3, 2025, 46-year-old Daniel Hyden of Monmouth, New Jersey, was found guilty of four counts of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and multiple counts of assault. Prosecutors say Hyden, behind the wheel of a Ford F-150, drove through a stop sign and a construction zone before crashing into a group gathered at Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side of New York City on July 4, 2024.
Crime scene and trial details
According to the trial record, Hyden was intoxicated when he accelerated through a stop sign at roughly 39 mph, then sped through a construction zone and mounted a curb before entering the park through a chain-link fence at speeds up to 54 mph. Four people — 59-year-old Lucille Pinkney, her nephew 38-year-old Herman Pinkney, 43-year-old Ana Morel and 30-year-old Emily Ruiz were killed, and seven others sustained injuries.
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In the moments after the crash, the truck came to rest when victims became trapped beneath it, and Hyden attempted to reverse until bystanders removed the keys. Evidence at trial included body-camera footage of a scuffle earlier that evening, when Hyden was denied entry to a party boat due to intoxication. His own book on sobriety, written years earlier, was introduced to demonstrate he knew the risks of driving while drinking a point prosecutors emphasized throughout the bench trial.
Legal implications and sentencing ahead
The verdict sends a strong message from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which described the crash as a “horrific act of vehicular violence” and said the decision “won’t bring them back to life, but can bring some measure of comfort” for victims’ loved ones. Hyden faces life in prison; he is scheduled for sentencing on December 3, 2025. Defense arguments that a foot injury impaired his braking abilities were rejected by the court. Meanwhile, survivors and family members of the deceased are left coping with the trauma and the loss of loved ones, some of whom were trapped under the vehicle.
