By:Elizabeth Sagarin
The driver involved in a car crash that killed two Oceanside teenagers and severely wounded another could face up to 48 years in prison.
Edward Perri, 19, of 2450 Yorktown Street is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the second degree, two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and one count of vehicular assault in the second degree for the May 26 collision at Merrick Road and Grand Avenue in Baldwin. The accident led to the deaths of his friends Adam Stark, 19, and John Behan, 17.
Although Perri admitted to smoking marijuana that night, relatives of one of the deceased believe the young man has suffered enough since the fatal accident. Behan's uncle Raymond Conroy of Freeport expressed the family's hope of leniency for Perri.
"He doesn't need to be punished any further," Conroy said. "He'll have to live with this for the rest of his life."
While traveling east on Merrick Road at 12:25 a.m., Perri made a left turn from the far right lane and his car, carrying Stark, Behan and Vinny Ribaudo, 18, was struck on the passenger side by a car operated by Wendy Shepherd, 20, of Massapequa, detectives said. Shepherd, her passenger and Stark were taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where Stark was pronounced dead almost an hour after the collision.
Shepherd and her passenger were released later that day. Behan and Ribaudo were taken to Mercy Hospital, where Behan died of his injuries two days later. Ribaudo was released from the hospital nearly a week after the accident.
Perri was brought to Nassau University Medical Center and released several days later.
According to Det. Richard Brusa of the Nassau County Homicide Squad, Perri admitted to smoking marijuana that night. A subsequent urine test confirmed the presence of marijuana in his system. Results of a blood test were pending. Perri was charged at the scene with DWI and held on $100,000 bail, which was posted May 29 and carried over to the most-current charges.
If convicted on all five charges, consecutive sentences could put Perri in prison for almost half a century. Rick Hinshaw, a spokesperson for the Nassau County District Attorney's office, said the more likely scenario would be for Perri to serve the sentences concurrently, if found guilty.
Perri and his lawyer, Frederick Anniballe of Garden City, are expected to appear for a screening conference in part nine of First District Court in Hempstead July 25 to determine the course of the case.
