Roosevelt Rose has been sentenced to 28½ years to life in prison for his involvement in a Mother’s Day hit-and-run incident in 2022 that resulted in the death of 49-year-old Florence Ngwu outside her South Jamaica residence. According to a press release, the incident occurred when Rose, operating a commercial pickup truck he had not driven before, struck two parked vehicles, one of which caused Ngwu’s death.
The sentencing, delivered today, concludes the legal proceedings stemming from the incident that occurred on Mother’s Day. The case involved a truck accident that caused significant loss for the Ngwu family. Trial testimony and charges cited Rose’s inexperience with operating a 2019 Ford F-550 truck, owned by a construction company, as a contributing factor in the incident.
The incident quickly became chaotic. The District Attorney’s office stated that the defendant’s unsuccessful three-point turn damaged a BMW owned by Ngwu’s daughter and resulted in the death of Florence Ngwu, who was present at the scene. Rose then left the area, and Ngwu sustained fatal injuries, including a lacerated spinal cord and a torn brain stem.
Video surveillance showed Rose, 59, leaving the truck near a church, and this evidence played a key role in the case. In July, a jury convicted him of multiple charges, including second-degree murder and first-degree assault. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise sentenced him to 28½ years to life. The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Gabriel J. Reale, with assistance from Assistant District Attorney Brian Cox and supervision from the Homicide Bureau, handled the case on behalf of the people of Queens.
The sentence concludes the legal proceedings in the case. Florence Ngwu’s death has had a significant impact on her family and the community, who continue to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
