{"id":234155,"date":"2026-05-16T21:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234155\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:17:07","slug":"suspected-drunk-driver-mowed-down-long-time-friend-who-was-waiting-for-mom-in-nyc-horror-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234155\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected drunk driver mowed down long time friend who was waiting for mom in NYC horror crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

A father of triplets killed when a car slammed into a crowded NYC sidewalk was waiting for his mother\u2019s bus <\/a>when he was struck \u2013 and it was a longtime friend behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Michael Saint-Hilaire, whose daughter and sons turn 2 next month<\/a>, was texting with his mom as she approached on the bus, uncle Jonathan Saint-Hilaire told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here waiting for you,\u201d the victim texted his mom, the uncle said.\u00a0 \u201cHe was waiting for his mom. She spoke to him at 5:53, and the crash happened at 6.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Saint-Hilaire is one of the victims in the drunk driving crash Instagram\/Michael Saint-Hilaire<\/p>\n

The uncle and nephew were very close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like my kid,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to take him for weeks at a time, when he grew up, he would call me his brother. You know when they do eulogies, they only say good things, but there are only good things to say about Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alleged drunken driver Elvin Suarez of Morningside Heights<\/a>, who lived just two blocks from the crash scene, had known many of the victims for years, residents in the area said.<\/p>\n

Michael Saint-Hilaire and a second man, doorman Jason Negron, were killed while three others were seriously hurt.<\/p>\n

Negron, 46, had just ended his shift at 4 p.m., one friend said.<\/p>\n

Emergency personnels attending to Elvin Suarez after smashing into a crowded sidewalk, killing two and injuring three others. Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n

His mother declined to speak when reached by The Post.<\/p>\n

A colleague at the West 110th building where Negron worked was shocked at his death.<\/p>\n

Suarez was just two blocks from home when the crash occurred, police said. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n

Mourners at the scene of the crash that killed pedestrians Jay Luciano and Michael St Hilaire. J.C. Rice for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still processing it all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A vase of flowers in the lobby included a note which read, \u201cJason, you will be dearly missed. We love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saint-Hilaire\u2019s uncle was angry at the driver accused of killing his nephew.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a drunk person to come and take his whole life, it\u2019s just not fair,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair at all. Parents aren\u2019t supposed to bury their kids. He just turned 35 in February. He texted me \u2018Thank you\u2019 on Friday with the two hands in prayer [emoji].\u201d<\/p>\n

Suarez tested above the legal limit for driving. J.C. Rice for NY Post<\/p>\n

The new dad worked in a hospital operating room, he said, but tried to get into the NYPD about a year ago.<\/p>\n

Saint-Hilaire\u2019s grandmother had asked him not to join, the uncle said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said she couldn\u2019t take it if something happened to him,\u201d the uncle recalled. \u201cHe was my mom\u2019s favorite. She\u2019s devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A father of triplets killed when a car slammed into a crowded NYC sidewalk was waiting for his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[254,1015,8077,57,9,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":["post-234155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-car-crashes","tag-deaths","tag-drunk-driving","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}