New York Mother on Drugs Arrested After Driving Wrong Way Down Highway, Killing Her 9-Year-Old Son in Tragic Crash: Police
Kerri Bedrick is accused of driving under the influence on the wrong side of the highway, which led to a collision that killed her 9-year-old son.
Aug. 26 2024, Published 11:29 a.m. ET
A mother in New York has been arrested in connection with a collision that killed her 9-year-old son — which authorities alleged occurred while she was on drugs and driving against traffic on a highway, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
According to ABC News, Kerri Bedrick, 32, is accused of driving her SUV the wrong way on the Southern State Parkway in Long Island with her son, Eli D. Henrys, in the back seat.
In total, the wrong-way DWI crash involved four vehicles, police said.
Around 2:15 a.m. on Aug. 22, a deputy with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office saw Bedrick moments before the crash occurred.
The deputy tried to pull her over by activating the squad car's lights and sirens, but Bedrick failed to stop and instead sped up, according to authorities.
Authorities said the impact of the crash ejected the engine from Bedrick’s SUV.
The deputy arrived at the four-vehicle crash site involving Bedrick and removed her seat-belted child from the back seat before attempting life-saving measures.
The child died on the way to the hospital, officials said.
Eli Henrys was in the back seat of the vehicle wearing a seatbelt during the collision, police said.
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Three others, including Bedrick, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“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," New York State Police Major Stephen Udice said.
According to WABC-TV, Bedrick allegedly is accused of being on drugs at the time of the collision and drove the wrong way down the Southern State Parkway for about five miles before causing the crash.
Bedrick was brought into court in a wheelchair for her arraignment, officials said.
Police said Bedrick admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and taking methamphetamine around 8 p.m. the night before.
Officials noted the mother was also driving without a license at the time of the crash. Her driver’s license reportedly has been suspended 56 times previously and she had had two prior DWIs.
At her Aug. 23 arraignment, Bedrick’s attorney requested leniency with bail so she could attend her son’s funeral.
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The attorney also said Bedrick had several medical issues — spina bifida, narcolepsy and a history of domestic violence — and there were factors that contributed to the accident.
Bedrick was charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated unlicensed operation, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, aggravated DWI, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a stimulant.
She was booked into Central Islip and was being held on $1 million cash or $2 million bond. She is scheduled to return to court this week and could face a homicide charge, authorities said.
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