CENTRAL ISLIP, Long Island (WABC) – Kerri Bedrick, the Long Island mother accused of killing her 9-year-old son in a wrong-way driving crash on the Southern State Parkway, pleaded not guilty during a court hearing Friday.
She was in a wheelchair as she was taken to Central Islip Court, where she pleaded not guilty to the serious offenses of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of drugs.
Prosecutors say Bedrick was drunk and under the influence of drugs and drove five miles the wrong way on the Southern State Parkway before causing a four-vehicle crash.
A hospital drug recognition expert determined that Bedrick was under the influence of drugs when she caused an accident on the Southern State Parkway early Thursday morning, prosecutors told the judge.
This decision was made after investigating officers found pills in her car.
Bedrick said she had taken methamphetamines at 8 p.m. the previous evening and was also under the influence of alcohol.
She has already been arrested twice for drunk driving and driving without a license.
The public prosecutor’s office stated that her driving license had already been revoked 56 times in the past.
But Bedrick’s lawyer portrayed his client as a victim and asked for a “more reasonable bail” so that she could attend her son’s funeral.
She suffers from spina bifida and narcolepsy and is seeking various treatment options. He said she is also a victim of domestic violence.
“My client was a victim. She took medication that was prescribed to her,” said the lawyer. “She is in denial, has not processed what happened to her and what happened with the death of her son.”
The judge, meanwhile, said this was one of the worst cases ever heard in his court.
“In my 39 years, this is probably one of the most tragic cases I have been involved in,” the judge told Bedrick.
She is being held on $1 million bail.
Bedrick is due back in court on August 29. The case will be presented to a grand jury, which will likely impose a higher charge.
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