Funeral services were held Tuesday for one of the six victims who died as a result of Sunday's three-car LIE crash in Manorville.
Services for Scott Martella, of Northport, were held at the Morris Funeral Home in Dix Hills.
As News 12 has reported, the 29-year-old served as communications director for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Martella was also a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
According to police, Carmelo Pinales, 26, of Hicksville, was driving eastbound on the LIE past Exit 68 when he lost control of the vehicle around 9:30 a.m.
Pinales, his 10-year-old son Christopher, and his 27-year-old sister Patricia were all killed in the crash.
Also killed in the crash was Isadore Adelson, of Westhampton, and his 71-year-old wife, Helen, who succumbed to her injuries at Stony Brook University Hospital on Monday.
Suffolk Chief of Detectives Gerald Gigante told News 12 Long Island that a number of witnesses to the crash said Pinales was speeding and passing cars on the eastbound LIE just before the incident.
"He was coming up fast on a vehicle in the left lane, he moved to the shoulder to avoid that vehicle and that's when he lost control," said Gigante.
Gigante said Pinales' vehicle went airborne and landed on the westbound lanes of the expressway. Martella was driving westbound with his fiancée at the time. She survived the crash and was in attendance during Tuesday's service.
Legislator William Spencer says he remembers Martella's confidence and kindness.
"When I heard the news, it was just a sense of disbelief. It knocked the breath out of me," said Spencer.