Man sentenced in wrong-way crash that killed 2 middle-school tennis stars on Long Island
JERICHO, Long Island (WABC) -- A man who admitted to being drunk and high on cocaine when he killed two 14-year-old tennis stars in a wrong-way crash on Long Island was sentenced Friday.
Amandeep Singh, 36, was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison for the 2023 crash.
On Friday, the courtrooms were full of tears as the victims' friends and loved ones gathered to give impact statements. Two overflow rooms had to be used because of the hundreds of supporters that were there for the sentencing.
Nine people gave victim impact statements and begged the judge to give Singh the maximum sentence.
Officials said on May 2, 2023, Singh was speeding at 90 mph and driving the wrong way on Route 106 and collided with an Alfa Romeo with four teens inside.
Singh was drunk and high on cocaine with a blood alcohol level of 0.18 -- more than twice the legal limit.
Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz were killed in the crash. They were both Roslyn Middle School 8th graders on their way home from getting food and celebrating following a tennis match victory.
Two other teens in the car were also injured in the crash.
In court Friday, both parents of Hassenbein and Falkowitz gave statements. So did their younger siblings and their Roslyn High School tennis team captain.
"Instead of picking up my son at school, I had to pick him up at the morgue, instead of watching him use his tennis racket like a magic wand, I had to bury it with him," Hassenbein's father told the judge. "He gave my son a death sentence and all of us a life sentence."
Then 17-year-old Zachary Sheena, who was Roslyn High School's tennis team captain and driving the car that night, spoke to the judge.
"Amandeep Singh is not a man, he's a coward and he's a murderer," Sheena said. "This coward has sentenced me to a life of suffering. I'm forced to relive that night over and over and over again. Tennis gave me life. I don't know the next time I'll touch a tennis racket again."
Singh, a husband and father of two, also spoke himself, saying, "I would never hurt a child intentionally and yet I did. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for your loss."
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly and the grieving friends and families want stiffer punishments.
"We need legislation that ensures drivers like Singh who make these disastrous choices face consequences that reflect the true devastation they cause and adequately hold them accountable," Donnelly said. "I will continue to urge our New York State lawmakers to work with my office and the families of victims like Ethan and Drew to impose tougher penalties for those who drive under the influence and take precious lives."
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