Posted on: June 19, 2025 06:50 PM

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Long beach man pleads guilty to vehicular manslaughter for fatal garden city crash

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Long Beach man pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and other charges for driving drunk into oncoming traffic on Stewart Avenue in Garden City in February, crashing into a tree and killing a passenger inside his vehicle.

Christhian Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty today before Judge Caryn Fink to Vehicular Manslaughter in the First Degree (a C felony); Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol (a D felony); Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting (a D felony); Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree (an E felony); False Personation (a B misdemeanor); and Circumvention of an Interlock Device (an A misdemeanor).

The defendant is expected to be sentenced to the maximum allowable sentence of 9 5/6 to 22 years in prison when he is due back in court on July 30, 2025.

“This defendant put the safety of other motorists at risk as he drunkenly and recklessly veered into oncoming traffic, and like a coward, fled the scene after he crashed, leaving his friend for dead in the backseat of the car,” said DA Donnelly. “Today’s guilty plea marks the third time in the last decade that Galeano has been convicted of driving while intoxicated, making him a clear recidivist offender with a blatant disregard for the law. Our thoughts remain with Marco Zuniga’s family, and we hope they can now feel a measure of accountability.”

DA Donnelly said that on February 9, 2025, at approximately 4:47 a.m., Velasquez Galeano was driving a Nissan Maxima while intoxicated and traveling eastbound on Stewart Avenue in Garden City with two passengers when he drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic and crashed into a tree on the westbound shoulder of the road, causing significant damage to the rear driver’s side of the vehicle.

Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger exited the vehicle after the crash and fled on foot north on Nassau Boulevard.

Marco Zuniga, 27, was slumped over in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle and unresponsive.

Garden City Police Department officers tracked two sets of footprints in the snow until they stopped in front of 118 Nassau Boulevard and found Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger hiding in the bushes.

Velasquez Galeano had blood on his hands and exhibited signs of intoxication.

He was taken to Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) to be treated for his injuries.

The front seat passenger was also taken to NUMC with a neck injury.

Zuniga was taken to NYU Langone Long Island Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 5:43 a.m.

During the investigation, police found two closed beer bottles in the back seat of the vehicle.

A court-ordered blood test revealed that Velasquez Galeano had a .11% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) four hours after the crash.

From DA