Kenyatta Weston Jr., of Copiague, charged in alleged DWI killing of girlfriend on Belt Parkway

A Copiague man has been indicted for an alleged drunken-driving crash last year that killed his girlfriend after the couple went drinking at a Brooklyn bar and he drove back at 115 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The indictment charges the man, 31-year-old Kenyatta Weston Jr., with manslaughter, driving under the influence and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a news release from the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

At an arraignment on Tuesday, Weston was ordered held without bail, and the case is due back in court on April 23. He faces up to 22 years in prison.

The crash, Feb. 8, 2025, on the Belt Parkway near the Sunrise Highway overpass in Rosedale, killed 27-year-old Elizabeth Vanessa Perla-Hernandez, the release said. She was from Brentwood, according to the NYPD. About an hour after the crash, Weston’s blood-alcohol level was 0.16% BAC, twice the legal limit of 0.08%, the release said.

Weston’s lawyer, Joseph Frank DeFelice, said Weston worked at a Bristol assisted living facility on Long Island. DeFelice otherwise declined on Wednesday to comment about the criminal case. Raúl Escobar, Perla-Hernandez's father, declined to comment.

The crash broke Weston’s pelvis and injured his lower spine, the release said. DeFelice said he didn't know whether his client was fully recovered but is able to walk. Neither Weston nor Perla-Hernandez was wearing a seat belt.

The indictment, which includes 13 counts, also alleges that Weston unlawfully possessed a Springfield Armory 9 mm pistol with a large-capacity magazine, which the authorities allegedly found in the driver side footwell of the vehicle that crashed, a Toyota Camry registered to Perla-Hernandez. His fingerprint was on the magazine.

On the night of the crash, Perla-Hernandez had driven the couple from Long Island to the bar, on Avenue U in Brooklyn, where the two arrived about 1 a.m. and began drinking alcohol. The pair left around 3:30 a.m., with Weston driving on the Belt Parkway. He crashed the car, the release said, "into the cushion barrels located on a grassy shoulder" about 15 minutes later.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.