Two women were tragically killed last month in Queens. They were pronounced dead after riding in a livery cab that was struck by an SUV whose driver was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving. The accident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday in the Astoria section of Queens.

Police have report the white Range Rover was speeding when heading west on 31st Avenue when it collided with the cab going south on 34th Street.

The cab’s two passengers, 41-year-old Bessy Velasquez and 30-year-old Panayiota Demetriou, were pronounced dead at Astoria General Hospital. Bessy Velasquez, a 41-year-old livery cab driver for Myrtle Car Service in Brooklyn, New York, was killed on the morning of Sunday, November 16, 2008. An intoxicated SUV driver crashed into the cab she was driving. The SUV driver, Daryush Omar is facing multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit for driving.1 Velasquez’s passenger, Panayiota Demetriou, was also killed in the crash.2 Velasquez is survived by her two teenage daughters, Bessy and Kimberly.2

Although not much is known about Panayiota Demetriou, Bessy Velasquez resided on Steuben Street in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. She has two daughters who she is survived by: 17-year-old also named Bessy and 14-year-old Kimberley. She is originally from Honduras, and began working for Myrtle Car Service in Brooklyn in 2000. She also worked as a cleaner for JetBlue Airways at LaGuardia Airport.

The residing driver of the Range Rover, 24-year-old Daryush Omar of Plainview, Long Island, was arrested on charges including vehicular manslaughter. He is criminally negligent in homicide and driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license. Omar was already facing murder trial for the 2006 beating death of a man outside of a NYC nightclub at the time of the crash.

The exclusive purpose of this article is educational and it is not intended as either legal advice or a general solution to any specific legal problem. Corporate offices for Nave DWI Defense Attorneys are located at 432 N. Franklin Street, Suite 80, Syracuse, NY 13204; Telephone No.: 1-866-792-7800. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney Advertising.