Destiny Mendez

Introduction

Destiny Mendez is a 29-year-old woman from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, charged after police say the Hyundai Elantra she was driving struck and killed 37-year-old Chasna Thelemaque on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway early Sunday, November 8, 2026 — a collision that came only moments after Thelemaque fell or leapt from the rear door of a moving Toyota RAV4 in which she had been riding as a passenger. Law-enforcement sources told the New York Post the RAV4 was an Uber; it carried New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission plates, and police said it was not immediately clear in what capacity Thelemaque was riding. Mendez was arrested at the scene and charged with vehicular assault, vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired.

Background Information

Neither Mendez nor Thelemaque had been publicly identified in connection with each other before the crash, and no prior relationship between them has been reported. Thelemaque, 37, lived in the Prospect Park South section of Brooklyn, which the Daily News, citing police, reported as Kensington; she was riding in the back seat of the RAV4, driven by a 33-year-old man, westbound toward Exit 28 near the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO. No employment or personal history for Mendez appears in the coverage, and no prior driving record or arrest history for her has been reported. The NYPD’s first statement about the crash contained two errors later corrected: it misidentified the RAV4 as a Toyota Highlander and described the driver of the Elantra as a man, before correcting the vehicle and identifying Mendez.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Mendez faces vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, DWI and driving-while-ability-impaired charges after police alleged she was intoxicated when her car struck Thelemaque. She has not entered a plea and is presumed innocent; the charges are unadjudicated. Police say the sequence began with Thelemaque’s still-unexplained exit from a moving vehicle.

The incident unfolded in the early hours of Sunday, November 8: detectives put the moment at about 2:25 to 2:30 a.m., when the westbound RAV4 approached Exit 28 on the BQE in DUMBO and Thelemaque, in the rear passenger seat, opened a rear door and tumbled out onto the right lane of the 50-mile-per-hour expressway. A driver following behind, Sharjeel Hassan, told the Daily News: “The driver he put the blinker on and he pressed the brake and the very next moment she opened the door and fell on the highway.” It remains unclear whether she fell accidentally or jumped — police said they did not know why she opened the door. Seconds later, according to police, the Hyundai Elantra Mendez was driving, headed in the same direction, struck Thelemaque, who suffered severe trauma to the body; EMS pronounced her dead at the scene. Police said the two vehicles never made contact with each other, and both drivers remained on the scene and spoke with investigators — but only Mendez was charged. Detectives arrested her just after 4:45 a.m., according to News 12 Brooklyn.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Every account of the crash foregrounded the same unanswered question: why Thelemaque opened the door of a moving car on an expressway. Hassan, the witness, described being unable to process what he had just seen — “I’m totally shocked, I didn’t expect that to happen and for a few moments I just didn’t know what happened,” he told the Daily News — and said he had swerved to stop after catching the fall “just at the right moment.” Coverage across the Post, the Daily News, Gothamist and News 12 uniformly paired the death with Mendez’s intoxication allegations, and the Post’s headline framed the sequence bluntly: a passenger “exits” a moving Uber, then is killed by an alleged drunken driver. The RAV4’s driver, 33, was not charged, and no charge against him has been reported. No public statement from Mendez, a family member or an attorney for her has been reported.

Current Status

Mendez’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending as of Sunday, November 9, according to the Daily News; no plea, bail ruling or defense-attorney information has been reported since her arrest. She faces four charges — vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired — all unadjudicated, and police have released no toxicology findings beyond the intoxication allegation. Thelemaque died at the scene; the reason she opened the RAV4’s door remains unexplained, and police have said only that it was unclear whether she fell or bolted from the moving vehicle.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 29, Mendez now faces prosecution on a vehicular manslaughter charge that alleges she was driving intoxicated when her car hit a pedestrian on one of New York City’s busiest expressways, and her case turns in part on a fact no report has resolved — that the woman she struck had just fallen or leapt from a moving car into her path. The crash killed Thelemaque, 37, at the scene and left the RAV4’s driver, who was not charged, as a witness rather than a defendant. Because Mendez was charged rather than convicted, the case stands as an accusation; the answer to why Thelemaque opened that door — and how much of the outcome rests on Mendez’s alleged intoxication versus the chaos of a body landing at highway speed — is what the prosecution and the pending arraignment will have to establish.

Sources

• New York Post, “Passenger ’exits’ moving Uber in NYC — then gets killed by alleged drunken driver,” November 8, 2026. source
• New York Daily News, “Woman killed on BQE after opening door and falling out of SUV, struck by drunk driver,” November 8, 2026. source
• News 12 Brooklyn, “Brooklyn woman tumbles out of moving SUV, is struck and killed by drunk driver on BQE,” November 8, 2026. source
• Gothamist/WNYC, “Brooklyn woman killed after tumbling from a moving SUV on the BQE near Brooklyn Bridge,” November 8, 2026. source