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Ryan Williams of Poughkeepsie was convicted on Tuesday, April 30, by an Ulster County jury of murder, four counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, unlawful fleeing from police, assault, and aggravated operation of a motor vehicle, said the Ulster County District Attorney's Ofice.
The crash took place on July 1, 2018, on Route 299 in the Town of Lloyd when Williams, struck and killed Danielle Pecoraro of Lloyd while she was driving east in a Ford 150 pickup truck, the DA's Office said.
Pecoraro’s daughter and a passenger in a vehicle following the pickup truck were seriously injured, they added.
In convicting Williams of murder, the jury found that he acted with depraved indifference to human life, the DA's Office said.
"In essence, depraved indifference murder is defined as behavior so heinous that the perpetrator displays an utter disregard to human life," said District Attorney Holley Carnright.
Moments before the crash police received a 911 complaint of a man driving a Porshe Cayenne in an erratic manner on Route 9W. The Town of Lloyd Police Department pulled Williams’ vehicle over as it turned from 9W onto Route 299. As the officer approached Williams’ vehicle, witnesses observed Williams throw a glass object out of the driver’s window and flee, at an excessively high rate of speed, from the officer, the DA's Office said.
Traveling at speeds at times in excess of 120 mph, and passing vehicles on the right shoulder, Williams approached the South Street intersection before losing control of his vehicle and killing Pecoraro. The force of the impact literally tore the Porsche in half and crushed the pickup truck, the DA's Office said.
Williams’ blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was .33.
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