Brentwood crash killed 10-month-old girl

Brentwood, NY (SmithtownRadio.com) – A Westbury father is now facing a charge of vehicular homicide after driving drunk and crashing his vehicle into a Brentwood convenience store on July 19.

In Suffolk County Court in Riverhead Wednesday, Judge John Toomey unsealed upgraded charges against Joe Escobar. Escobar, 29, now faces charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter.

Escobar’s 10-month-old daughter Helen and his pregnant girlfriend, Maria Guillen, 27, also of Westbury, were both seriously injured when the car Escobar was driving speed off the Long Island Expressway service road and into a wall of a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Helen was taken to Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park where she succumbed to her injuries. Guillen was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center where doctors saved the pregnant woman’s baby by performing an emergency Caesarean section. That child was placed into protective custody by Suffolk County Child Protective Services.

After the crash, Escobar was treated for non-life-threatening injuries before being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Escobar plead not guilty. He could faces up to 25 years in prison.