Bronx BMW driver arrested for manslaughter in crash that killed beloved coach

Yahoo

08-05-2025

An unlicensed BMW driver has been charged with manslaughter for a November crash that killed a beloved football coach outside the victim's Bronx home, police said Thursday.
Sheydon McClean remained at the scene after the Nov. 30 crash in Baychester killed 60-year-old Dwight Downer. Cops let McClean go without charges but began building a case against him as they investigated the crash at Eastchester Road and Givan Ave.
Meanwhile, McClean's BMW has been hit with at least three speeding violations after being photographed by city speed cameras,in the months since the crash police sources said.
McClean, 25, surrendered at the 47th Precinct stationhouse Thursday to face charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving without a license. He said nothing as he was led in handcuffs by cops from the stationhouse to appear in Bronx Criminal Court.
Downer, a retired correction officer and high school football coach, had just parked his Nissan Murano on the street when McClean's BMW 328 XI, which was heading east on Eastchester Road, blew through a red light and slammed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Givan Ave. 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.
'He loved life,' Downer's sister Karen Green told the Daily News after his death. 'Every Super Bowl he would cook. He had a large circle of friends. People loved him.'
McClean remained at the scene and was taken to the same hospital with minor injuries.
The unlicensed pickup truck driver McClean hit fled the crash. 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.
While he never left the scene, cops zeroed in on McClean. Their investigation determined he had blown the light and was speeding at the time of the crash, according to NYPD officials.
'There were two people at fault in this incident, but one was more at fault,' a police source said of McClean.
As they built a case against McClean, detectives learned that the BMW involved in the crash had triggered city speed cameras at least three times, police sources said. It was not clear who was behind the wheel when the tickets were issued.
Downer, a 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,' Green said. 'He had that ability to instill those values and determination and send them on the right road.'
The coach's family has lived at the intersection for more than 50 years, relatives said. Downer usually parked in the driveway but decided to park on the street so the driveway spot could be left open for a visiting nephew, they said.
In 2017, Downer witnessed a terrible crash at the same corner that hurt five people and left an Audi in a neighbor's front yard.
At the time, Downer complained about speeding drivers.
'People don't know how to slow down,' he told WABC-TV at the time. 'People are in a hurry to go nowhere.'