Fate of Suspect in Bus Driver Murder Case in Hands of Jury

By ISAAC MONTEROSE

The jury in the murder trial of the 25-year-old nephew of model Tyson Beckford accused of killing an MTA bus driver in a drunk driving accident began  deliberations after hearing summations on Thursday.

Before the jury got the case they heard Assistant DA Randolph Clark, Jr. deplore “the defendant’s decadence” as he portrayed in Manhattan Supreme Court the events of the wee hours ofFebruary 12, 2014 when a drunken Dominick Whilby, who had been kicked out of various establishments hours earlier, stole an 18,000-pound truck from a loading dock and drove it through downtown Manhattan, injuring four persons before colliding with a crosstown bus driven by William Pena, a 50-year-old longtime MTA employee, at West 14^th Street. Pena was ejected from the driver’s seat due to the impact and died from his injuries.

 Pena left behind his marital partner Nancy Rodriguez, 50, who attended the summations and hardly acknowledged Whilby except to glare at him briefly.

 Hours before drunkenly walking around downtown Manhattan and stealing a truck, Whilby had been partying with his  Beckford, a fashion model and actor, at the 1 Oak nightclub.

 After the incident, Whilby was charged  with second-degree murder and aggravated vehicular homicide along with several other charges including two grand larceny raps.

 In her summation Whilby’s defense lawyer, Laura Miranda, argued that due to his drunkenness her client wasn’t aware of his actions when he stole and drove the large truck from the loading dock. She also argued that Whilby was just trying to find a warm place to stay after being kicked out of various hotels and clubs. She added that Whilby might have blacked out during the drive, citing testimony by William Dunn, a toxicologist. She had also cited Whilby showing remorse while recovering in Bellevue Hospital .

 Clarke countered that Whilby was still capable of logical thinking despite being drunk. As to Miranda’s argument that Whilby was just looking for a warm place, Clarke said he didn’t care if Whilby had been “wearing a thong that day.” The people who booted him from their establishments had the right to do so.

 “What is clear, what the evidence shows is that defendant is guilty of not only creating the risk of death to anyone in his way but that he completely disregarded that risk and wantonly continuing on his devastating path,” Clarke said.

 If convicted, Whilby faces a 25 years to life maximum sentence after previously rejecting a 14 to 24 year plea deal to manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide.