Just after midnight on August 12, 2023, 33-year-old Sotirios Spanos was speeding east on Northern Boulevard in Laurel Hollow in a 2023 Acura MDX. At the same time, Odalis Urena and his wife Ismenia, both 37, were traveling in a convertible heading west on the same road, approaching Moores Hill Road.
Spanos, who was intoxicated and driving almost 100 miles per hour, crossed into oncoming traffic, struck the front passenger side of the Urenas’ vehicle head-on, and drove over the vehicle, killing them both.
Investigators found an event data recorder inside the Acura showing that Spanos was driving approximately 100 miles per hour only 2.5 seconds before the collision. He began braking 1.5 seconds before impact and struck the victims’ vehicle at 84.5 miles per hour.
Ismenia Urena was pronounced dead at the scene. Odalis Urena was taken to Huntington Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:32 am.
Spanos was twice the legal limit for alcohol more than three hours after the collision.
He was arrested by Oyster Bay Cove Police Department and Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad officers that day.
On Tuesday, April 23rd, Spanos, from Syosset, pled guilty before a judge to a number of charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of manslaughter, two counts of assault, and driving while intoxicated. He is due back in court on June 17, 2024, and is expected to be sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison.
“Ismenia and Odalis Urena were a young, successful couple with two daughters and many years of happiness ahead of them, but all of that was erased when this defendant struck the Urena’s vehicle head-on that August morning and killed them,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Sotirios Spanos was hurtling around the curves of Northern Boulevard at 100 miles an hour while two times the legal limit for alcohol. His reckless and selfish choices orphaned two girls and shattered a family. Our thoughts are with all of Ismenia and Odalis Urena’s friends and loved ones who continue to suffer the pain of their senseless and tragic loss.”
