Speeding BMW driver accused of killing beloved Bronx coach was ‘extremely reckless': DA

Yahoo

09-05-2025

The unlicensed 25-year-old BMW driver who killed a beloved Bronx football coach was traveling at an 'extremely reckless' speed when he sparked the fatal crash, Bronx prosecutors said Friday.
Sheydon McClean only had a learner's permit as he charged down Eastchester Road at a stunning 86 miles per hour, more than 60 miles over the speed limit, before the Nov. 30 crash that led to 60-year-old Dwight Downer's death, prosecutors alleged at McClean's arraignment on manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges.
Downer, a retired correction officer and high school football coach, had just parked his Nissan Murano on the street and gotten out of his car when McClean's BMW 328 XI blew through a red light on Givan Ave. and slammed into a pickup truck at about 12:10 a.m., cops say.
The BMW careened out of control and slammed into Downer and four parked cars before coming to a stop.
Downer, who coached football at DeWitt Clinton High School — where he was affectionately known as 'Coach D' — was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where he died a half hour later.
The father of two served as a correction officer at Rikers Island for 27 years before retiring nearly a decade ago, his family said. Besides coaching at DeWitt Clinton High School, his alma mater, he coached for the Bronx Buccaneers, a youth football league, for the past six years, relatives said.
'He was a mentor to so many kids,' his sister Karen Green told the Daily News following the crash. 'He had that ability to instill those values and determination and send them on the right road.'
McClean remained at the scene following the Baychester crash and was treated for minor injuries but wasn't immediately charged. A friend of McClean, who may have been riding in the BMW when the crash occurred, called 911, prosecutors said.
The BMW driver surrendered to detectives on Thursday.
The judge ordered McClean held on $20,000 bail — which his family, who sat in the gallery, would soon post, said attorney Joseph Caldarera, who called the charges against his client 'unreasonable.'
'I understand the prosecutor's office has to overcharge in order to make it seem like they are fighting crime and make it seem like they're doing the right thing when somebody loses their life,' said Caldarera. 'But that's not justice. In this case, this man is being overcharged because someone lost their life, and although we feel sympathetic for that family and we extend our condolences to them, it's a miscarriage of justice to charge him like this.'
Caldarera called the crash an 'accident.' McClean, he said, remained at the scene and has 'been in touch with the NYPD these follow the past few months to see what was going on with his case.'
'He turned himself into the precinct,' the attorney said. 'He's not looking to run, and he's looking to accept responsibility for what happened here, but that acceptance of responsibility needs to be reasonable.'
McClean's family declined to comment in court.
The pickup truck driver McClean collided with was also unlicensed and fled the crash, officials said. Cops arrested Orville Berry, on March 13, charging him with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The Yonkers resident pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.
Bronx prosecutors said McClean's speeding and ignoring traffic signals showed an 'extremely reckless' behavior that was the basis for the manslaughter charge.
Since the crash, McClean's BMW has been hit with at least three speeding violations after being photographed by city speed cameras, police sources said.
McClean is facing 15 years in prison if convicted, but that was cold comfort to Downer's mother on Thursday.
'These arrests cannot bring back my child,' Norma Downer, 83, told The News. 'Still, something has to be done.'
'Every day I have to look at his picture and cry,' she said.
Caldarera said his client wants to testify to the grand jury next week.
'We plan on fighting these charges head-on moving forward,' the attorney said. 'Once we see the facts, it's going to show that my client is not guilty of what he is charged with.'