E-bike rider Joseph Melendez hit, killed by DWI driver in Melville, Suffolk police say
E-bike victim Joseph Melendez, of Wyandanch, holds his son Giovanni, who is now 7 years old, in an undated photo. Credit: Emeli Rivera
An alleged drunken driver struck and killed an e-bike rider in Melville early Saturday morning, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
Jennifer Kirkpatrick, 24, was driving south on Bagatelle Road in a 2018 Subaru Forester just after 1 a.m. when she attempted to make a left turn onto eastbound Express Drive South and collided with Joseph Melendez, 28, of Wyandanch, who was riding a "Razor fly-wing e-bike" northbound, according to police.
Melendez was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip. He leaves behind a 7-year-old son, Giovanni, and a large number of friends, according to his roommate and longtime friend Erik Mejia, who said Melendez was "like a brother to me."
"He was a great guy. He did everything and anything he could for anybody," Mejia told Newsday. "He just had a beautiful soul like that."
Kirkpatrick was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. She was arraigned Sunday on an upgraded charge of driving while intoxicated, causing a fatality, prosecutors said. Kirkpatrick entered a not guilty plea and was released on her own recognizance, according to Kirkpatrick's lawyer.
The biggest news, politics and crime stories in Suffolk County, in your inbox every Friday at noon.
By clicking Sign up, you agree to ourprivacy policy.
Melendez, originally from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, moved to Long Island during middle school, Mejia said.
He worked as a landscaper and often rode his e-bike with friends who also had electric bikes and scooters, according to Mejia.
Kirkpatrick, who was treated for minor injuries at a hospital, is a single mother with no prior criminal history, her attorney, Michael Brown, said in a phone interview Sunday. And based on an early look at the accusations, Brown said, it appears that "the accident was not her fault."
"She's a single mother who's very hard working and ... we're confident that she is going to be exonerated once a full and complete investigation is conducted," he said.
Kirkpatrick's next court date is set for Nov. 24.
Newsday's Tiffany Cusaac-Smith contributed to this story.
More coverage: Every 7 minutes on average a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage happens on Long Island.A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people. To search for fatal crashes in your area,click here.
Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
'I won't let this win': Breast cancer survivor stories From diagnosis to treatment, Long Islanders talk about their experience with breast cancer.
'I won't let this win': Breast cancer survivor stories From diagnosis to treatment, Long Islanders talk about their experience with breast cancer.
