A Roosevelt man was sentenced Friday to four to 12 years in prison for killing his 25-year-old girlfriend while driving drunk in the car that she got that day for her birthday.
Horace Cummings had pleaded guilty in February at Nassau County court to second-degree manslaughter, reckless endangerment and driving while ability impaired by combined influence of alcohol and drugs.
“This tragic case should remind everyone that you must be careful about who you are trusting with your life when you enter a car as a passenger,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said.
Prosecutors said that the 35-year-old man was drunk and high on drugs when he drove a Nissan Altima westbound on Front Street in Hempstead and crashed head on with an eastbound vehicle at 2:40 a.m. Nov. 21, 2015.
His girlfriend, Diamond Hawkins, who had just received the car as a birthday gift, was killed in the crash. Cummings, who suffered non-life threatening injuries, initially told police that Hawkins was driving, authorities said. The other driver was not injured.
Cummings was later indicted and surrendered to police Department on Aug. 8.
