Cops said they have solved a deadly hit-and-run mystery with the arrest of a driver who rear-ended a disabled car on a Bronx expressway last year, killing a beloved club promoter who was waiting for help.
Nightlife impresario Darryl Mathis Jr., 39, spent his last minutes texting friends and posting on Instagram about his plight after his Ford Crown Victoria got stranded on the Major Deegan Expressway around 4 a.m. on March 22, 2025.
But before help could arrive, cops said, motorist Fuquan Bradley, 36, plowed a Mercedes-Benz sedan into the rear of the Ford, leaving Mathis with injuries he could not survive. Officials said Bradley fled the location on foot.
Bradley was arrested Thursday and charged with leaving the scene of an accident. He was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court, where his bail was set at $100,000.
Paramedics transported Mathis to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“Had a great night tonight with the gang,” Mathis, who was on his way home to New Jersey from an event with rapper Rick Ross in the Bronx, texted shortly after he first became stranded.
“I’m trying to go home and my car dies while I’m on the highway. How the f–k am I in the Bronx and my car just died? You can’t make this s–t up. I just want to go home, yo. I just want to go home. I just want to go home.”
About 30 minutes later, Mathis was back on the phone, according to a friend, telling an associate that he had gotten hit from behind — and was in pain and couldn’t breathe.
His friends called for help when they arrived on the expressway at W. Fordham Road in University Heights.
“We lost a real one,” Ross posted on Instagram, along with a picture of Mathis, shortly after the crash.
Mathis, known in the industry as “Maybach Swagg,” had been working a late gig with Ross, before calling it a night and heading to his Elizabeth, N.J., home, according to friends and social media posts.
Friends said Mathis acquired the Maybach nickname because of his association with Ross, whose record label is Maybach Music Group.
Mathis was an ambassador for Ross’ champagne line, Belaire. He went around to hotspots in New York and New Jersey getting bottles of the bubbly placed in clubs and lounges.