A 45-year-old livery taxi driver was killed in a high-speed 2022 hit-and-run accident in the Bronx, and a woman was arrested on manslaughter charges Thursday, according to police.
In the June 5, 2022, collision that claimed Robert Godwin’s life, Imani Williams is charged with exceeding three times the speed limit in a bus lane and running a red light.
Williams, 26, was charged with manslaughter after turning himself in at the 44th Precinct stationhouse Thursday morning accompanied by an attorney, according to police sources.
According to police sources, detectives from the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad found DNA in the driver’s side seat. Detectives were able to connect the DNA to Williams, who has a criminal history, after two years.
At approximately 4:30 a.m., Williams, 26, broke a red light at E. 168th St. and T-boned Godwin’s Toyota Camry while driving a Chevrolet Traverse SUV north in a bus lane on Webster Ave. in the South Bronx, according to police.
According to authorities, Godwin had the right-of-way as he drove the Camry with TLC plates down E. 168th St.
When Williams allegedly collided with Godwin, who had the light, police found she was traveling at 77 mph in a 25 mph zone. Before both cars crashed into a line of parked cars, the SUV shoved the Camry roughly 70 feet.
According to police, Williams was just 0.5 miles from her home when she crashed.
Following the collision, police say Williams escaped from the wrecked SUV and staggered off, leaving Godwin dead. Her two passengers, one of them was a woman who witnesses saw vomit after fleeing the crash, also fled.
At the time, David Torres, a witness to the collision, claimed that Godwin was completely covered in blood. The blow had already killed him. He would not survive. Absolutely not.
Godwin was taken to Lincoln Hospital by ambulance, but he was not saved. According to acquaintances, he lived in Astoria, Queens, and was just finishing off his night work when he was assassinated.
According to Godwin’s roommate and childhood friend Mike Marzoa, the victim also enjoyed getting to know the individuals he drove about while working for app-based businesses like Uber and Lyft.
Marzoa, 42, told the Daily News in 2022 that he was very good with people and social with them. Every time he gets home, he tells me. He says, “I spoke with this guy, this couple, or this Brazilian guy who’s in town for this or that.”
He stated that he enjoyed interacting with individuals and getting to know them.
On Thursday, Williams is scheduled to be arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court.
According to police, another woman was the owner of the abandoned SUV. The Traverse had eight parking infractions, six speed camera infractions in school zones, and one ticket for running a red light over the three years before to the collision. Who was driving at the time those fines were issued remains unknown.
