State of New York v. Kashawn Croswell

Brooklyn, New York, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with causing a fatal crash in Downtown Brooklyn after driving over 60 miles per hour, running three red lights and slamming into another vehicle, killing a 21-year-old woman and injuring three others.

“This defendant made a series of reckless and deliberate decisions that had deadly consequences. By driving at high speeds and running red lights, he turned a Brooklyn intersection into a death trap. A young mother lost her life, shattering her family, and today’s sentence reflects the gravity of the harm he caused. My office will continue to hold accountable anyone who recklessly commits vehicular violence on our streets.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Kashawn Croswell, 28, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jane Tully to an indeterminate term of three to nine years in prison. He was convicted on January 22, 2026, of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault, reckless driving, excessive speed and disobeying traffic control signal indications following a jury trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on August 18, 2023, at approximately 3:21 a.m., the defendant was driving southbound on Court Street at a speed of 60 miles per hour with his 24-year-old girlfriend in the passenger seat. Video surveillance showed the defendant running three consecutive steady red lights — at Schermerhorn Street, State Street and Atlantic Avenue.

After running the third light at Court Street and Atlantic Avenue at a speed of 62 miles per hour, the defendant T-boned a westbound vehicle that had the right of way, striking the front passenger side with tremendous force. The front-seat passenger in the struck vehicle, 21-year-old Shanti Joyner, suffered multiple blunt impact injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Joyner’s 32-year-old sister, who was driving the struck vehicle, suffered an ankle fracture and a 29-year-old rear passenger suffered a wrist fracture.

Following the crash, the defendant exited his vehicle and removed his girlfriend from the passenger side of the car, which eventually caught fire. He then attempted to flee the scene, dragging his girlfriend for a block and a half asking multiple cars if they were Uber drivers. He then asked a resident to allow the defendant to enter their home but was denied entry. Bystanders called 911, and police later located the defendant outside the building. His girlfriend, who suffered a spinal fracture in the crash, was then transported to an area hospital.

The District Attorney thanked Intelligence Analyst, Zoë Feygin of the KCDA Digital Evidence Lab under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jingu Chong, Chief of the Digital Evidence Lab, for assistance in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Han Zhang and Assistant District Attorney Adriana Morquecho, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nocella, Street Safety Bureau Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Blue Zone Bureau Chief.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentence to 9 years in prison.