Boutin charged with homicide

West Hempstead resident Kervens Boutin, who worked as a school safety aide at Roosevelt High School, was arraigned on June 21 in connection with a Jan. 27 crash in which two of his passengers were killed and two others were severely injured.

Boutin, 31, was charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, vehicular assault, assault, driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, driving while intoxicated by the combined use of drugs and alcohol, reckless driving and reckless endangerment.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Boutin had a blood-alcohol content of .31 percent — nearly four times the legal limit — 40 minutes after the crash, and had marijuana in his system as well.

A spokesman for Rice said that the accident occurred at 5:45 on the morning of Jan. 27. Officials allege that Boutin was driving over 100 mph westbound on the Southern State Parkway in a 2008 Nissan Maxima when he lost control of the wheel and crashed into a line of trees east of Exit 22.

Two of his four passengers — Blossom Castro, 22, and Bryan Rivas, 20 — were killed on impact, while the two surviving passengers — Marlo Cabrera, 19, whose right leg was severed in the crash, and Antonio Rivas, 22, who suffered severe internal injuries — were ejected from the vehicle along with Boutin, who lost both of his legs.

“Mere words cannot describe the injuries Blossom Castro and Bryan Rivas suffered in this crash, to say nothing of the harm this defendant inflicted on himself and his two surviving passengers,” Rice said. “This tragedy forever altered the fates of the five people involved and their families, and it all could have easily been avoided.”

Boutin had been hospitalized since the crash, where he underwent multiple surgeries. He was recently released from the hospital and now lives with his sister in Elmont.

He was released on $10,000 bail, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of the top charges. Boutin’s next court date is scheduled for July 22.