Story by Ethan
On March 4th, 2026, the arrest of Kenyatta Weston Jr., age 31, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Kenyatta Weston Jr. was charged with second-degree Manslaughter, second-degree Assault, second-degree Vehicular Manslaughter, three counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, two counts of Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Reckless Driving, Operating a Vehicle at Unreasonable Speed, and two counts of Driving in Excess of the Maximum Speed Limit. The arrest and charges against Kenyatta Weston Jr. were a result of an investigation handled by the New York City Police Department’s Collision Investigation Squad and the District Attorney’s Vehicular Homicide Unit.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, on February 8th, 2025, the victim was driving a white Toyota Camry in her name alongside Kenyatta Weston Jr. who was sitting in the passenger seat. The pair drove from Long Island to Bronx when they arrived on Avenue U at 1 a.m. and entered a bar before consuming alcohol. Both the victim and the defendant left the bar at approximately 3:30 a.m. with Kenyatta Weston Jr. now being the driver. Around 15 minutes after they left the bar the defendant was driving along the Belt Parkway in the area of the Sunrise Highway in Rosedale, New York. It’s alleged that Kenyatta Weston Jr. was driving at 115 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone when he crashed into cushion barrels on the shoulder of the road. Neither the victim or the defendant were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. EMS responders found the victim unresponsive at the scene before pronouncing her as dead when taken with the defendant to a nearby hospital. Kenyatta Weston Jr. sustained a broken pelvis and other injuries to his lower back, however he was able to make a successful recovery. Approximately an hour after the crash a blood test was done on the defendant that revealed that he had a .16 percent blood alcohol content which is twice the legal limit of .08 percent. A court-authorized search warrant was executed on the Toyota Camry that recovered a 9 mm pistol with a large capacity magazine with a fingerprint belonging to the defendant on it. Kenyatta Weston Jr. was arrested on the morning of March 3rd, 2026, by members of the NYPD Warrant Squad.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Kenyatta Weston Jr. are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
