Model Tyson Beckford’s nephew was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison for drunkenly crashing a stolen box truck into an MTA bus and killing the driver.
The widow of slain driver William Pena blasted Domonic Whilby, 25, and urged the judge to mete out a hefty punishment for the tragic Feb. 12, 2014, accident.
“My beloved William died like an animal,“ said a tearful Nancy Rodriguez in Manhattan Supreme Court. “Domonic Whilby as a grown adult acted on his own and made choices to drink one drink after another.”
The couple’s daughter, Gabrielle Pena, also read an emotional statement to the court. “Because of one man’s lack of self-control I lost the most important man in my life, and I will never get him back,” said the young woman, who was 17 when her father died.
Whilby was convicted March 31 of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of manslaughter and one count of reckless endangerment but skated on the top charge of depraved-indifference murder.
Rodriguez, who came to court for the entire trial, was distraught when the jury found Whilby not guilty of 14 of the 18 counts against him.
A repentant Whilby, who had been partying with his famous uncle shortly before the deadly collision, apologized for his crime. “This was truly an accident, and I am here to say I messed up,” he told Justice Gregory Carro. “Please, your honor, I ask you, give me a second chance.”
Carro wasn’t swayed and gave Whilby the maximum.
Before the deadly crash, the Atlanta transplant was at nightclub 1OAK with Beckford and his then-girlfriend, Victoria’s Secret model Shanina Shaik.
After Whilby knocked over a table of drinks, he was tossed from the Meatpacking District club, according to trial testimony.
He was so trashed that he eventually wandered into the loading dock of the Dream Downtown hotel and swiped a box truck.
The one-man wrecking crew hit a taxi, a truck and a man on a scooter as he drove west on 16th street then turned left down Seventh Avenue. At 14th Street, he blew through a red light and barreled into an M14 bus, killing Pena and injuring four others. Pena, 49, was thrown from the bus.
Whilby had a blood alcohol level of .18 percent — more than twice the legal limit.
Assistant District Attorney Randolph Clarke Jr. told jurors that Whilby might have been drunk, but he was still responsible for the consequences of his actions.
At trial, defense lawyer Laura Miranda argued that Whilby was so blitzed that he was barely conscious and couldn’t form murderous intent.