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Orange County resident Ezzial Williams, age 38, of Newburgh, was sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison on Tuesday, May 23.
As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, Williams was driving on Route 32 in the Town of Cornwall on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021, in excess of the posted speed limit when she crossed over the double yellow line and crashed into the vehicle being driven by Dr. John C. Hordines Jr., age 54, of New Windsor.
The crash killed the surgeon.
Prior to operating the vehicle, Williams had smoked cocaine, some of which was recovered from a crack pipe found in Williams’s belongings after the crash, court documents show.
Members of the state police, including the Collision Reconstruction Unit, investigated the circumstances of the crash and determined that the victim’s vehicle was in the proper lane of travel and that the crash was caused as a result of Willam's impairment together with her speed and reckless driving by crossing over the double yellow line, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler.
Williams admitted during the plea allocution that she was impaired by the consumption of cocaine at the time of the collision, was speeding and crossed over the double yellow line and thereby recklessly caused the death of the victim.
“This case is another example of the horrifying outcomes we often see when combining drugs and driving,” said Hoovler. “We lost an innocent member of our community through this defendant’s selfish and tragic choices. Drugged driving is a choice, not an accident. I offer my condolences to the grieving family of the victim in this case.”
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