2 charged in deadly DWI crash on Long Island that killed father, 2 kids

BAY SHORE (WABC) -- Two men are charged in the deadly crash on the Southern State Parkway that killed a father and two children in Bay Shore.

Demetri Stewart, 23, of Cambria Heights, Queens, was charged with leaving the scene of a death, fourth-degree criminal facilitation and third-degree hindering prosecution.

Police say Stewart's vehicle was following the BMW SUV that crashed Sunday morning, and he allegedly drove the suspect, 24-year-old O'Neil Sharpe, Jr., from the scene.

Sharpe, of Springfield Gardens, is charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death, among other charges.

"Our preliminary investigation shows that he was at a barbecue with friends, that there was drinking involved," prosecutor John Scott Prudenti said.

The Ostane family had also just left a barbecue, and the Queens family was heading home when police say Sharpe rear ended them around exit 41, forcing their car over a median and several lanes of traffic.

The car burst into flames, trapping Ancio Ostane, his 8-year-old son Andy and his 4-year-old daughter Sephora in the vehicle.

Their mother Lucnie was able to escape.

Prosecutors say Sharpe's car came to rest right near the Ostane's vehicle, but instead of helping, they say he fled the scene and left his car.

Sharpe denies all the charges.

"We entered a denial to all charges and allegations," attorney Harry Tilis said. "He's looking forward to seeing this case through.

State police arrested Sharpe four hours later at his mother's house in Rockville Centre.

"His vehicle was recovered at the scene, with a license plate and tag which assisted the state police in making that determination and subsequent arrest of this individual," Prudenti said.

Just before Sharpe's court appearance in Central Islip, state police took one of his friends in for questioning.

"Our investigation into several aspects of this case are ongoing and continuing," Prudenti said.

Lucnie Bouaz-Ostane also spoke to Eyewitness News, saying she cannot believe her two little angels and her kind-hearted husband are gone.

The father was a math professor, and Andy had just received his First Communion. Sephora would always pray for her mother's patients.

"He was the student of the month, and was going to third grade, didn't make it," she said. "My daughter was happy to go to kindergarten to be a big girl - she didn't make it."

She says one of the last things her family did together was pray.