Trial Slated for Manorville Man in Crash That Killed Pregnant Fiancée

The manslaughter case against a young man whose pregnant 19-year-old fiancée died when their motorcycle crashed in Amagansett nearly two years ago is headed to trial.

Matthew J. Byank, of Manorville, was speeding away from an officer when his sport bike hit a utility pole on the Napeague stretch on May 24, 2010, according to East Hampton Town police. Lauren M. Parris, of Mastic Beach, was thrown about 80 feet from the bike, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office said.

Jury selection is set to start in early June, according to Robert Clifford, the DA's spokesman.

By all accounts, Byank, who was also 19 at the time, and Parris had recently learned she was pregnant and had decided to take a ride out to Montauk with friends.

Police said they were headed home when Police Officer Bradley Rozzi noticed a motorcycle speed by on Montauk Highway, near Second House Road, in Montauk at around 9:30 p.m. He tried to pull the motorcycle over, but Byank sped off, allegedly passing cars along the stretch.

The prosecution later said that the sport bike was traveling 90 to 115 mph.

Parris' father, Daniel Parris, said on Thursday that he wants to see his daughter's fiance get the 8 to 15 years the district attorney's office was initially pushing for when offering Byank a plea deal two years ago. "He didn't take my daughter, in her pregnant-state seriously," he said. 

He also blames the police officer. "He had something to do with this too," he said, adding that he questions whether the officer should have just called ahead and not chased the motorcycle. "I believe if you screw around you should be chased until you get caught. But there was a passenger on the back who might not have been in the same state of mind as the driver," he said. 

Still, he said, "We don't really know what went on that night." He has heard conflicting stories — Byank told him the officer was on his tail and that he was afraid to stop because the patrol car was so close. He said he doesn't know what to believe.

Todd Sarris, the chief of the town police department at the time, said in 2010 that the officer quickly lost sight of the motorcycle and called into headquarters for officers to be on the lookout while he drove west. The next time he saw the motorcycle, it was strewn in pieces on the highway, near Dolphin Drive.

Parris was not breathing, according to police at the time, and despite resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead at Southampton Hospital.

Byank is being represented by a public defender.

He was arrested that night and charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer in the first degree, a felony, and driving with a suspended license. At the time of the crash. Byank reportedly had a bench warrant for his arrest related to unanswered traffic violations in Suffolk County First District Court. Court records show he had been ticketed four times by county police for driving with a suspended license between January 19 and April 26, 2010. He was considered a persistent violator. 

His daughter used to tell him that Byank drove too fast on the motorcycle with her. A few weeks before the accident, he told him, "If she gets hurt, you get hurt. If she dies, you die." 

According to the charges filed in East Hampton Town Justice Court after the crash, Byank told police at the scene, "I'm really not supposed to be on a bike." 

A grand jury indicted him a few days after the accident on felony second-degree manslaughter, unlawfully fleeing a police officer in the first degree, driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and eight violations, including speeding. He pleaded not guilty.

After a few weeks in jail, a friend posted $25,000 bail.

The case was in front of Suffolk County Criminal Court Judge Stephen Braslow until April 2, and now is on Judge C. Randall Hinriches' docket. The next court date is May 9. Clifford said it's for administrative purposes. 

Parris said, "I want to see his life disrupted for a long time."