The McCoy family had hit that serene patch in Suffolk County, heading east in their Mazda as the sun neared its peak, just before noon on Valentine’s Day last year.
If they saw what was coming from behind, they did not have much time to react.
Not far behind them, Jamel Turner was behind the wheel of a 2018 Chevy Camaro that had been reported stolen. Turner was a drug dealer and a member of the Bloods street gang, with a long record of arrests and convictions, the police would say later.
What happened next was recounted in court Tuesday in Suffolk County, where Turner was sentenced to 27 years in prison after having pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges that included aggravated vehicular homicide.
At the courthouse Tuesday, the Suffolk district attorney, Timothy Sini, pointed out that Turner was high at the time of the accident.
“So high that the medical examiner said it was the second highest level of marijuana that they’ve ever seen in a living specimen,” Sini said.
And Turner was speeding.
At the moment that the Camaro struck the McCoy family’s Mazda, it was traveling at 154 mph — nearly four times the 40 mph speed limit, or roughly “the speed at which jetliners take off,” Sini said following Turner’s sentencing on Tuesday.
The collision set off a domino effect: The Camaro plowed into the Mazda, then an oil truck; the Mazda hit an Infiniti.
All four of the Mazda’s passengers — Jacquelyn McCoy, 55, who was at the wheel; her daughter, Mary Alice Booker, 36; her son, Anthony McCoy, 33; and Anthony’s girlfriend, Tameka Foster, 42 — were burned to death.
A passenger in Turner’s car, Lonidell Skinner, was thrown from the Camaro, as was Turner’s dog, a Pomeranian named Prince. Both were killed. Turner survived.
Seconds after the crash, Turner lied to the police about his name and told them he was not the driver, according to prosecutors.
About a year later, Turner pleaded guilty to a laundry list of charges relating to the five deaths and a serious injury to the driver of the oil truck. That man is still recovering from his injuries to his spine and neck, Sini said.
The sentencing Tuesday was thought to be a routine affair; no victim impact statements were scheduled, and Turner’s plea deal included a 27-year sentence. But a wrinkle quickly developed: Turner refused to leave his jail cell Tuesday morning.
Turner apparently wanted to withdraw his guilty plea, a request which Justice Fernando Camacho denied. The judge then warned that if Turner did not show up as ordered, he would risk losing his plea deal and be sentenced to life in prison.
After several hours, Turner finally came to court.
The delay outraged Sini.
“You have an individual who, after receiving effective assistance of counsel, takes a plea, and the day of sentencing, he doesn’t have the courage to show up in court,” he said. “He’s hiding in his prison cell. It’s pathetic.”
At the sentencing, Turner spoke briefly.
“I want to say sorry to all the families,” Turner said, quietly, adding, “I lost a best friend in this situation.”
Camacho looked at Turner, who sat handcuffed in a hunter-green prison uniform. Seemingly bothered by Turner’s lack of visible empathy, Camacho spoke directly to him.
“Burned alive,” he said. “Real human beings. Burned to death. Alive! You get it?”
Eyes still locked on Turner, he added, “Jamel Turner wiped out an entire family.”
As he stood up to leave the courtroom, Turner’s eyes appeared dry.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.