WHITE PLAINS – The director of project development for construction company Lecher Development LLC has been indicted on criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment charges in the death of Jose Vega, a 46-year-old laborer after an approximately nine-foot-deep trench collapsed burying him under dirt at a residential construction site in the Village of Mamaroneck in 2021.
A Westchester County grand jury indicted Michael Conway, 59, of Bethel, Connecticut for criminally negligent homicide and two counts of reckless endangerment.
Conway was arrested by Mamaroneck Village Police and arraigned with bail set at $5,000 cash, $10,000 bond and $25,000 partially secured bond at 10 percent.
It is alleged that at about 12:40 p.m. on May 4, 2021, Conway directed two workers to dig a trench without proper shoring or cave-in protections in place at a residential construction site on Shore Acres Drive in the village.
It was further alleged that Conway, as site supervisor, knew the excavation was in violation of OSHA regulations, which require a trench deeper than five feet to have protections that prevent the walls from caving in.
The approximately nine-foot deep unprotected trench collapsed, completely burying Vega under dirt. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
