Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly speaking on Singh’s hearing.
Photo courtesy of Casey Fahrer
Amandeep Singh pleaded guilty Friday to the May 3, 2023 murder of two Roslyn teen tennis players who died in a wrong-way crash when he plowed into their car during a drug and alcohol-fueled driving spree.
Singh’s hearing at the Nassau County Court House. was held in front of Judge Helene Gugerty. Many family and community members attended the hearing – some not even making it into the courtroom.
Singh pleaded guilty to 10 charges that each carry a sentence between eight and a third years to 25 years in prison. The charges include aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it as a felony, two counts of third-degree assault, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and a drug and driving while intoxicated. Reports show that he had a blood alcohol content of 0.15% four hours after the accident, nearly twice the legal limit.
Singh fled the crash scene in Jericho and was found hiding behind a dumpster in a parking lot when he was apprehended by police, according to reports.
“The defendant’s criminal conduct was unconscionable, and in my mind, nothing short of the maximum prison sentence for the top count charge would be enough to hold this defendant accountable for the devastation that he caused,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a press conference after the hearing.
Singh had been driving a 2021 Dodge Ram TRX at speeds up to 95 miles per hour on North Broadway in Jericho while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine on the night of the accident, according to the DA’s office. He had been driving on the wrong side of the road when he hit an Alfa Romeo carrying four teenagers who had been at Buffalo Wild Wings celebrating a high school tennis match, according to the district attorney.
]Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both 14, were killed instantly while the other two teenagers were taken to the hospital for treatment, according to reports. Hassenbein and Falkowitz both attended Roslyn Middle School and were members of Roslyn High School’s varsity tennis team.
Support for the families of the deceased flooded in from the community after the incident. Many local camps, leagues and organizations grieved the loss of the two teenagers. “When this defendant was first arraigned in district court after the crash, the outpouring of love, of support and solidarity was unlike anything I have seen in my career as a prosecutor,” Donnelly said.
Singh’s attorneys, Edward Sapone and James Kousouros,
answered questions from the media after the hearing.
“He has always known that he would accept responsibility for this,” Kousouros said about his client outside of the courthouse.
“He really dug in there and accepted responsibility because he does feel remorse, and he wants today to be the first day of healing for both families,” Sapone added.
Singh had initially entered a non-guilty plea in June 2023, which his attorneys said allowed them time to sort through the evidence.
“The evidence of this defendant’s guilt was overwhelming and left him with no choice but to finally take responsibility today for the lives he destroyed,” Donnelly said.
Singh is due back in court on Feb. 7.