‘Disappointing’ six-month sentence for FDNY EMT who killed Brooklyn teacher in hit-and-run
The devastated loved ones of a Brooklyn schoolteacher killed in a fatal hit-and-run crash looked on with somber disappointment as the veteran FDNY EMT who killed the beloved educator got six months behind bars Wednesday.
Tariq Witherspoon, 31, was sentenced in Brooklyn Supreme Court, nearly two years after he got behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce while off-duty and mowed down teacher Matthew Jensen, 58, as he crossed Bayard St. near McGuinness Blvd. in Greenpoint.
Witherspoon pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the May 18, 2021, crash. He was also sentenced to five years of probation.
“It’s disappointing,” Jensen’s older brother Paul Jensen told the Daily News. “He’s markedly changed so many lives with my brother’s loss. ... Nothing will make it right or better.”
According to police, Jensen was crossing against traffic and Witherspoon had the green light — but Witherspoon was driving recklessly and speeding, and didn’t stay at the scene.
Witherspoon surrendered at the 94th Precinct stationhouse months later, in February 2022.
“We had hoped the sentence would be longer, and it doesn’t seem fitting for the crime,” said Jensen’s close friend Lisa Summa, 58, a retired teacher, adding that she praised prosecutors for their work on the case nonetheless.
Jensen’s brother and his cousin John Ogden said the grief has been like living in a fog.
“It’s like walking through water. Everything’s slow and strange,” Ogden said.
The educator’s loved ones said they were frustrated that Witherspoon expressed remorse only through his attorney, not with his own words.
“It’s very difficult and disappointing that he couldn’t express his remorse to us,” Summa said.
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the disposition of the case “honors the wishes of Mr. Jensen’s relatives that the defendant accept responsibility for his criminal conduct and receive an appropriate period of incarceration.”
“While no sentence can undo the harm of an innocent life cut short, we hope that this resolution brings Mr. Jensen’s loved ones some measure of closure for their tremendous loss,” the statement continued.
Jensen taught at Public School 110 in Greenpoint, where he was fondly remembered as a passionate instructor who made lasting connections with his students.
“You brought light here,” one student wrote as part of a memorial made in the days after his death. “You made everyone feel they were someone special and important. You will be sorely missed.”
Witherspoon, who was an 11-year FDNY EMS veteran, resigned in February, an FDNY spokesman said.
