He Wrote a Book on Sobriety. Now He’s Convicted of Murder for Driving Drunk and Killing 4 By Nicole Acosta

A speeding drunk driver who plowed into a crowd of people celebrating Fourth of July at a New York City park — killing four — has been convicted of murder.

Daniel Hyden, 46, was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, four counts of second-degree assault and three counts of third-degree assault on Monday, Nov. 3 following a bench trial, according to a press release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Hyden was drunk when his Ford F-150 pickup truck first ran through a stop sign at 39 mph at an intersection in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood on July 4, 2024. He then traveled through a construction zone at speeds up to 54 mph before crashing through a chain link fence and into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park.

“Hyden had fully pressed down his gas pedal and did not hit his brakes until one-half second before the final crash,” the release states. “Four people were trapped underneath the pickup truck, with seven others struck and injured by the truck or debris.”

Lucille Pinkney, 59, Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43, were pronounced dead at the scene while Emily Ruiz, 30, died five days later, per the press release and The New York Times, which reported the victims’ ages.

Ruiz, a mother of a 6-year-old boy, was remembered as someone with a “loving nature and sincere heart,” per a GoFundMe campaign. Morel’s mother, Zoila Hernandez previously told the New York Daily News, “My daughter was the best. I have three daughters, [and] she was like an angel.”

Diamond Pickney, a relative of Lucille and Herman, said on a GoFundMe campaign that the victims were his mother and brother. In another online fundraiser, loved ones wrote that Herman was survived by his wife Jessica and son Jacob, who were also injured in the crash.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Hyden worked as a substance abuse counselor and a program director for organizations directed at helping people facing homelessness. He also wrote a book about sobriety titled The Sober Addict.

The Times reported that prosecutors highlighted that background as evidence of Hyden’s awareness of his actions that night. Hyden wrote in the book that he “was a real danger to others and myself when I was on the road intoxicated,” which was read in court, per the Times.

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According to CBS News, police body camera footage showed Hyden had been denied entry to a boat party for being too intoxicated prior to the deadly crash.

“While this verdict won’t bring them back to life, I hope that this conviction can bring at least some measure of comfort for their friends and family,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. said in the release.

Hyden will be sentenced on Dec. 3. He faces up to life in prison.