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High, behind the wheel of a stolen SUV and broadcasting it live on Instagram.
That’s how prosecutors say then-16-year-old Matthew Papile spent his final minutes on the road before he killed a 73-year-old woman on Middle Country Road in Centereach.
Papile, now 18, of Port Jefferson, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated vehicular homicide and a string of related charges in the May 4, 2024, crash that killed Marion Napolitano and left her passenger with a traumatic brain injury, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. He is expected to be sentenced to 6 to 18 years in prison.
“The defendant’s choices on that day were selfish, lethal and they ruined lives,” Tierney said of Papile, who was tried as an adult.
Livestreamed the carnage
During his allocution in court, Papile admitted what authorities had alleged since the deadly crash — that the teen impaired by marijuana as he drove a stolen blue 2008 Land Rover LR2 and livestreamed on Instagram, Tierney said.
Investigators later recovered his Instagram posts, saying on Tuesday that they show Papile broadcasting his erratic driving, right up to the fatal crash.
The Land Rover he was operating was reported stolen that morning from a driveway in Coram.
At about 9:10 p.m., Papile was driving east on Middle Country Road when he sideswiped another vehicle and kept going, prosecutors said. He weaved across the eastbound lanes, cut off other drivers and sped, Tierney added.
He then slammed into the rear of Napolitano’s 1994 Toyota Corolla, pushing it off the road and into a telephone pole and tree.
The Land Rover spun out and came to rest in the center lane before jumped out of and made a run for it. But he didn’t get far. Three good Samaritans, including an off-duty Suffolk Police officer, chased him down and held him until officers arrived.
Victim’s son needed brain surgery
Napolitano was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Her son James, a passenger in her car, was also hospitalized. At a 2024 bail hearing, a prosecutor said Napolitano’s son needed “life-saving” brain surgery after the crash. On Tuesday, the DA’s office confirmed the man remains seriously injured.
Following the fatal wreck, Napolitano’s daughter Carrie Herbstman started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to offset the emergency care her brother needed, as well as funeral and burial services to honor her mom. The community contributed $3,325 to the effort.
Officers at the scene said Papile showed signs of being high on marijuana. He admitted to smoking marijuana and agreed to a blood test, which found THC in his system, prosecutors said.
His time behind bars
On Tuesday, Papile pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr to aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter. He also pleaded guilty to the following crimes:
• Aggravated vehicular assault
• Second-degree assault
• Leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death
• Third-degree criminal possession of stolen property
• Driving while impaired by drug
• Reckless driving
Papile is due back in court Oct. 15 for his sentencing.
Top: Matthew Papile’s mugshot (provided by Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office) and Marion Napolitano in undated photo posted by close friend on Facebook.
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