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Travis Dickson, age 32, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and related charges in Suffolk County Court on Friday, Feb. 9.
Prosecutors said Dickson was impaired by alcohol and marijuana when he got behind the wheel of a BMW sedan in the early hours of Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
At around 1:50 a.m., he was speeding westbound on the Long Island Expressway in Farmingdale, going nearly 119 miles per hour, when he slammed into the back of a Toyota Corolla.
The impact crushed the back of the Toyota, where 9-year-old Angel Salas was sitting in his booster seat, according to police.
Salas spent two days on life support at Stony Brook University Hospital before doctors pronounced him brain dead on Aug. 24. His father suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
According to investigators, Dickson made no attempt to brake in the seconds before the crash. He admitted to police that he had smoked marijuana.
A sample of his blood drawn nearly three hours after the crash showed a blood alcohol concentration of .14 percent and the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Police also determined that his driver’s license was revoked at the time.
“This defendant’s dangerous actions caused the unthinkable death of a nine-year-old child in a booster seat and serious injuries to his father,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
“No family deserves to go through the heartache of losing a family member, let alone a child, to a drunk or drug- impaired driver. We hope that today’s guilty plea brings some measure of closure to the victim’s family.”
In court Friday, Dickson pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Manslaughter (felony)
- Vehicular manslaughter (felony)
- Two counts of assault (felony and misdemeanor)
- Driving while intoxicated (misdemeanor)
- Reckless driving (misdemeanor)
- Aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle (misdemeanor)
He faces between 4 ½ and 13 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Friday, April 5.
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