Kerri Bedrick, Centerport, NY woman faces slew of charges in DWI wrong way crash along Long Island’s Southern State Parkway that led to her 9 year old son, Eli Henrys being killed as she is set to appear at a Suffolk County court, Friday morning.
A Long Island mother faces a slew of charges following a wrong way crash along the Southern State Parkway on Thursday that killed her 9 year old son along with injuring two other drivers.
Kerri Bedrick, 32, of Centerport, was allegedly impaired and driving with a suspended license at the time of the accident on Thursday morning. At the time, the woman was being pursued by a Suffolk County Sheriff’s patrolman in a bid to get the errant driver to stop. Instead, Bedrick only sped up to evade officials.
Bedrick is expected to be arraigned later this morning in Central Islip according to FOX5NY. The full list of charges she faces in court as described by New York State Police in a press release include:
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- Aggravated unlicensed operation.
- Operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs.
- Aggravated DWI.
- Endangering the welfare of a child.
- Criminal possession of a stimulant.
‘The state troopers did their best to save the boy’s life and this was a traumatic experience for all involved,’ NYSP Major Stephen Udice said.
New York State Troopers and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office patrols responded to the eastbound side of the parkway, just past exit 42, on Thursday around 2:20 a.m.
Police say Bedrick was driving the wrong way in a 2022 Mitsubishi SUV while her son, Eli Henrys, was sitting in the back seat. She collided with another vehicle, which resulted in a four-car crash.
‘To give you an idea of the severity of the impact, the engine of the wrong-way driving vehicle was thrown from that vehicle into the woods some distance from the collision point itself,’ Udice said.
State troopers located Bedrick standing outside while her son was still strapped in his seat belt. They performed CPR, both in the car and then in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but couldn’t save the boy.
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Two other drivers, Haydee Meyer, 29, and David Picard, 24, were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A third driver, a 63-year-old man, was not injured.
Bedrick also sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was seen being escorted out of the hospital by police in handcuffs. Investigators say cops were trailing Bedrick’s SUV before the deadly crash.
‘Well, prior to that collision, a Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office patrol witnessed the vehicle traveling in the wrong direction and attempted to stop that vehicle,’ Udice said. ‘However, the wrong way driver sped up and refused to stop.’
