1 Year After Crash Kills 5: 'Every Day, We Miss Ryan. . .We Love Ryan'

LONG ISLAND, NY — Sunday, July 24, marks one year since five people died in a head-on crash in Quogue. But for the families that have lived on, enduring every agonizingly long day without their sons and father, the grief is forever.

Justin B. Mendez, 22, of Brookhaven, who was driving a red Nissan Maxima and crashed head-on into a gray Toyota Prius on Montauk Highway and Quogue Street (East) died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital a short time later, police said. The driver of the Prius, Farhan Zahid, 32, of Bay Shore, was an Uber driver, and three passengers, Michael O. Farrell, 20, James P. Farrell, 25, and Ryan Kiess, 25, all from Manhassett, died at the scene, police said. A fourth passenger, Brianna M. Maglio, 22, of Garden City, was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

Authorities released details on the night of the crash in October, and said Mendez was speeding, and had marijuana in his car.

Kurt Kiess, Ryan's father, has been advocating tirelessly for change. He released a statement Friday: "I have learned a lot in the past year about New York’s legal system, most particularly the devastating impact the negligence of some can have on others and the inequity of New York law in providing remedies for the victims of negligence. "

Kiess and other families have been advocating for the passage of the Grieving Families Act; the measure has passed in both houses of the New York State legislature and is currently in Gov. Kathy Hochul's Office to be signed.

"The death of Ryan, James, Michel, the Uber drive and the serious injuries to Bri should have never happened," Kiess said, who has questioned the Quogue Village Police about a police officer he believes was "engaging in an unnecessary and high speed pursuit"; he also said he feels the police department failed "to properly train and supervise its officer."

The Village of Quogue Police did not immediately return a request for comment

Kiess has also cried out for safety improvements on a "known dangerous section of county road."

He added: "One could also argue that our elected officials in New York State have been negligent in failing to update and revise a 150‐year‐old law that curtails the rights and remedies of many New York negligence victims and perpetuates injustice and inequality."

Each year, New Yorkers "are killed by drunk drivers, medical negligence, defective products, dangerous roadway conditions, and countless other acts and omissions. New York's 1847 Wrongful Death Law fails to deliver justice by not placing value on the loss of the love, affection, companionship and comfort that New Yorkers are deprived of when a loved one's life is wrongfully taken," a release from the New York Public Interest Research Group said. "New York's antiquated law effectively baked in the perspectives and biases of its times – devaluing the lives of children, seniors, people of color and women, depriving their loved ones of the full measure of their losses."

The Grieving Families Act, sponsored by New York State Senator Brad Hoylman and New York State Assembly Member Helene Weinstein "will bring New York's pre-Civil War era wrongful death law in line with approximately 47 other states that already allow their courts to consider the full measure of lost relationships and the many states that recognize the grief that results from a life wrongfully taken. It will also expand those who can file a wrongful death lawsuit to include close family members — for example, domestic partners— who experience the same sense of loss and pain and yet are barred from pursuing any accountability against the wrongdoer," the release said.

He and his wife Nina's son Ryan "was to provide our family a lifetime of love and joy," Kiess said. "We expected to grow old watching him and his family provide a life of love. This type of love and joy cannot be measured in the terms of dollars. You can never appreciate its loss until it’s is taken you."

However, he said, under current New York law, since they were young men unmarried and without dependent children, Ryan, James and Michael’s lives are "worth virtually zero. Although their lives cannot be measured in dollars, I am certain their lives are not worth zero. That is why I have taken a lead role in getting the Grieving Families Act passed."

Reflecting on life without his beloved son, Kiess said every day is wracked with pain. This weekend, the families of those left behind will spend time doing the things they loved best, such as playing golf.

"My family will move forward. We will try to embrace life to the fullest, something that Ryan would want for all of us," Kiess said. "While the scars left by Ryan’s loss will fade over time, they are permanent. Every day we miss Ryan, every day we talk about Ryan — and every day we love Ryan. This will never end. "

The support of a heartbroken community has helped during the darkest hours, he said.

"My family would not be able to navigate this tragedy without the tremendous outpouring of love and support from our friends and neighbors in Manhasset and Remsenburg. We cannot thank you enough for your love and support."

Kiess is haunted by questions: Was the police department's policy on pursuits followed that night

The Village of Quogue Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that question.

Kiess, too, said in a full year, other crashes have taken place in the same spot, and nothing has changed to prevent another tragedy.

"One year later, the exact same thing could happen there right now," he said. "Your kids are in just as much danger today as my son was a year ago when my son lost his life. Do you want your kids driving on that road?"

Kiess said he has met with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who is waiting for a traffic study and said the. county has repainted lines, put in additional flashing lights, and added rumble strips.

But it's not enough, Kiess believes, adding that a central divider and road refiguration is needed. People will always speed, he said; it's human nature.

"Random enforcement of speed is not safety," he said.

On Sunday, Kiess said he and his wife will be at the crash site, as they have been so many times before, standing heartbroken behind flowers and photos, holding close to one another and memories of their precious son — trying to survive unthinkable loss. And, too, they hope to affect change so no other family has to bury their son, on the cusp of his bright future.

"We're doing the best we can," he said.

In September, James Farrell, father of two brothers who died in the crash, filed a notice of claim seeking $40 million in damages.

The notice of claim stated that the Farrell brothers died as the result of "carelessness, recklessness, gross negligence, negligence and reckless disregard for the safety of others" by Quogue Village Police, including an officer who "improperly" pursued Mendez.

After the crash, the Quogue Village Police Department said the New York State Police's collision reconstruction unit recovered data from the event data recorders, known as the black boxes, of both vehicles, which showed Mendez' Nissan Maxima’s speed at the time of the collision was 86 miles per hour, with its top speed of 106 miles per hour 3.5 seconds prior to the collision, with no indication of braking.

The speed of the Uber, a Toyota Prius, at the time of collision was 27 miles per hour, with a top speed of approximately 38 miles per hour 4 seconds prior to impact with braking, police said.

A witness who was traveling in a car east on County Road 80 was also interviewed, police said.
“I saw a red car near the old VFW in Quogue on Montauk Highway," the witness said. "I did not realize until after my headlights had illuminated the vehicle that the red car had no lights on and was completely blacked out. When this vehicle passed me, it appeared as the vehicle was traveling at over 100 miles per hour, which sounded like a race car, taking my breath away. Next, I saw a police car with the emergency lights on around 100 yards or 10 to 15 seconds behind the red car, with the police car not making any headway of closing the distance between them.”

Any death of a person potentially caused by an act or omission of a police officer is reviewed by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, police said. "That office reviewed this incident and indicated that there was no cause to pursue action against the police officer," police said.

Farrell also previously filed a notice of claim against Suffolk County.

Farrell, who lives in Plandome Heights, is represented by Garden City-based attorney Robert Sullivan.

When asked for comment at the time, Quogue Village Police responded: "We do not have a comment on the notice of claim that was filed."

At the funeral for the Farrell brothers, hundreds turned out in mourning. Letters were read from the many friends, heartbroken, who shared memories.

The families left behind have been united in crying out for safety improvements on the road where their loved ones lost their lives.

The young people called an Uber to be safe, Kiess said, after the crash. "They were doing the right thing." His son and his friends, Kiess said, "were all good kids." Through tears, Kiess said: "Our hearts are broken forever. Our lives will never be the same."

The young men, he said, were all "very caring. They were the first to help you. They just loved music, they loved their friends." And, he said, they enjoyed playing golf together at the North Hempstead Country Club. "They were buddies," Kiess said. "They were the best of friends."

His son met Brianna at the University of Scranton; they both played lacrosse and had been dating for six years, Kiess said. "They were a fantastic couple," he said.

The night his son died began as a celebration, Kiess said. He and his wife just bought a home in Remsenburg.

"It was our first party. My son was so proud of that house. All of his friends were in the cottage, playing games and dancing," he said. "They helped clean up and then they called an Uber to go dancing. He walked into the living room and got into the car— and that was the last time I saw my son," Kiess said.

He added, "You see these things on the news and you say, 'That's somebody else' — and then it becomes your family."

After the crash, Hifsa Ahmad, who lost her husband, Uber driver Farhan Zahid in the crash, sat on a bed in her home, two of her three small children sleeping beside her, as she spoke with Patch. Her youngest, Ahaan, just 16 months old, was exhausted from crying all night, every night, for his father, she said.

Sitting quietly on the bed, her children wrapped around her, Ahmad told her story, a story of dreams forever unfilled, a story marked by unimaginable pain.

Both born in Pakistan, the couple had been married for seven years, since 2014, an arranged marriage, Ahmad said. Ahmad, who has lived in the United States for 13 years, brought Zahid to the country, too.

They shared three children, son Ayaan, 6, daughter Mishal, 3, and the baby, who, his grandmothers — both Zahid and Ahmad's mothers, who are mourning in the home — said, wakes every morning and pulls them by the finger to lead them down the steps to where his father always slept. "He thinks he's downstairs," they said.

Her husband, Ahmad said, would have turned 32 years old; his birthday was July 30, six days after he died on July 24.

He was a kind man, "very nice and helpful," Ahmad said. "He was always helping the kids. He was so happy to be a father." He enjoyed taking all three children to the park, playing with them in the backyard, going with them for walks.

And he had dreams for their futures, Ahmad said: "He wanted them to have good educations, to see them become doctors," she said.

Describing that last night, Ahmad said her husband called her at 11 p.m. "He said, 'I just picked up a customer, and it's a 25-minute ride. I'll talk to you after 25 minutes.' He never made it," she said.

Her husband normally returned to their Bay Shore home between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., Ahmad said.

At 6 a.m., the doorbell rang, and her sister, who lives in the home with Ahmad and the children, answered.

When the bell rang, Ahmad said at first they thought her husband had just forgotten his key.
And then came the unthinkable words: "The highway police came and told us that he is no more. He died," she said.

Her face still, her voice soft, Ahmad spoke of the life she and her husband had dreamed of: "We had so many plans. He was going to buy us a house next year."

A home where her children could have the trampoline they ask for so often, she said.

His children are lost without their father, Ahmad said.

Her daughter was the first to wake that morning, stirring slightly, then sitting up in her pink nightshirt.

"Mama, where is Daddy?" she asked.

Her children all cry at night, Ahmad said. "They ask, 'Where is Father?' And they cry."