By The Diary
24 Aug 2024, 01:55 AM EDT
A 9-year-old boy was killed in a traffic accident in which his mother was apparently driving intoxicated and in the wrong direction on Long Island (NY), early yesterday morning.
Kerri A. Bedrick, 32, was charged Thursday with driving the wrong way under the influence of alcohol on the Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore causing the multiple-vehicle crash that claimed the life of her son Eli D. Henrys, New York State Police (NYSP) said. She pleaded “not guilty” yesterday, the NYSP reported. ABC News.
“It was a very serious collision. It was a head-on collision. The damage to the vehicles involved was extensive and (…) to give you an idea, the engine of the vehicle traveling in the opposite direction was thrown out, it cut off, it separated from the vehicle and it landed in the woods,” Stephen Udice of NYSP told reporters, as quoted by Fox News.
The crash happened around 2:20 a.m. Thursday. NYSP and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office officers who responded to the scene on the highway near eastbound Exit 42 found a four-car pileup, police said. Patch.com.
Officers saw the mother standing outside her car and found the injured child in the back seat with his seat belt buckled. They performed CPR on him, but he later died, police said.
Bedrick was charged with driving without a license and intoxicated with a passenger under the age of 16, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a stimulant, among other offenses. All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
The mother and two of the four other drivers involved were not seriously injured, and only one driver escaped the crash uninjured. The collision is still under investigation and NYSP is asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has additional information to call 631-756-3300.
Diane Bedrick, the child’s grandmother, said her daughter had been suffering from medical problems and was taking prescription medication, she said. New York Post.
Authorities remind that there is zero tolerance for drivers who drive at excessive speed and/or under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also frequent protagonists of road accidents, as victims and perpetrators, by riding on sidewalks, disregarding traffic lights and even the direction of the streets.
In May, a 71-year-old Puerto Rican grandmother died after being hit by a driver who was fleeing from the police in Brooklyn (NYC) and left the scene by getting on the subway. Ironically, just hours before, Governor Kathy Hochul had signed the so-called Sammy’s Law, which reduces the speed limit to 20 mph and even 10 mph on some streets in the five boroughs of NYC to protect pedestrians. So far this year, more than 40 people have been killed in car accidents in the city.
Previously, in December, Gov. Hochul signed “Angelica’s Law,” designed to keep drivers with prior suspensions off the road by charging repeat offenders who operate vehicles after committing five or more traffic violations that resulted in suspensions or revocations with felonies.
In April of this year, a young woman was arrested on suspicion of committing a series of serious crimes when she allegedly crashed while drunk, killed a woman, and then fled in the patrol car that responded to the scene in Nassau County (NY). A 33-year-old driver also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence when he crashed and killed a Dominican couple on Long Island.
In February, Jessica Beauvais (35) was sentenced after being found guilty of fatally running over New York City Police Department (NYPD) highway patrol officer Anastasios Tsakos in Queens while driving drunk, drugged, and with a suspended license in 2021.
Seek help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Check information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org