Two people — one of them a former member of the New York Police Department — have been indicted and arraigned for their alleged roles in a 2024 crash that killed one person and injured three others.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the indictment and arraignment against former NYPD Officer Stanley Cadet, 27, of North Babylon, and Kayla Lopez, 28, of Bay Shore, on October 14 at Suffolk County Court. The indictment alleges that on May 11, 2024 at 2:20 a.m., Cadet and Lopez were allegedly dangerously speeding when their vehicles collided, ejecting and killing passenger Anna Wilson, and causing injury to three other passengers. Cadet was off-duty and driving his personal car at the time.
Cadet and Lopez were allegedly driving at a speed of more than 100 miles per hour on Union Boulevard in West Islip. Both vehicles went through a steady red light and drove side-by-side for a half mile on a single-lane roadway. When the vehicles reached the Route 231 overpass between Union Boulevard and John Street, they collided. Lopez lost control of her vehicle and struck multiple telephone poles. Wilson, who was a passenger in Lopez’s vehicle, was ejected from the car. Wilson was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Another passenger in Lopez’s vehicle suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision.
Pursuant to New York Executive Law Section 70-b, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.
On August 8, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order appointing the Attorney General’s Office as a special prosecutor to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute matters relating to Wilson’s death and the injury of another passenger.
Both Cadet and Lopez were charged with Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Assault in the Second and Third Degrees, Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, Reckless Driving, Excessive Speed, and Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device. They were arraigned before Judge Richard Ambro and were released on supervised release.
Cadet and Lopez are due back in court on November 17, 2025. The maximum sentence is an indeterminate sentence of five to 15 years in prison.