Heartbroken grandmother opens up after daughter allegedly kills grandson in drugged-out, wrong-way NY crash
The heartbroken grandmother of the 9-year-old boy who was allegedly killed by his drugged-out mom in a wrong-way crash on a Long Island parkway said her daughter had been struggling with medical issues before the tragedy — but that the youngster was “everything to her.”
Grandmother Diane Bedrick described a close relationship between her grandson, Eli D. Henrys, and her daughter, Kerri Bedrick, who faces a slew of felonies, including aggravated driving while impaired, after the deadly four-vehicle crash Thursday along the South State Parkway.
“She loves him so much,” she said of her daughter, in brief remarks outside a Suffolk County courthouse Friday.
“He was such a sweet boy and had a long life ahead of him,” Bedrick earlier told Newsday. “She adored him and he was everything to her.”
The grieving grandmother had said her 32-year-old daughter had been suffering from medical issues and was on prescription medication.
When asked if the medical issues played a role in the crash, she said, “I think so.”
Eli was found buckled in the back seat of Bedrick’s Mitsubishi SUV, which hit another vehicle head-on with such force, its engine flew out and into the woods off the road, authorities said.
Medics and New York state troopers rushed Eli to a hospital, but he died from his injuries, cops said.
The crash unfolded about 2:30 a.m. as Kerri Bedrick drove her SUV the wrong way along the eastbound Southern State Parkway near the Islip exit while trying to flee an attempted traffic stop by a Suffolk County deputy sheriff, according to state police.
The deputy stopped the wrong-way chase by switching into the westbound lanes, but Bedrick continued, crashing into oncoming traffic, cops said.
Here's everything we know about Long Island mom's wrong-way crash that killed her son
- Long Island mother Kerri A. Bedrick, 32, was slapped with charges in a horrific wrong-way crash that killed her 9-year-old son and injured several others early Thursday, authorities said.
- Bedrick ignored a Suffolk County deputy sheriff’s attempt to pull her over and sped up just moments before the terrifying four-car collision that killed her young son, Eli Henrys.
- The mom appeared to shuffle unsteadily as officers led her into a waiting patrol car later in the evening. She reportedly admitted to taking methamphetamine and was driving on a suspended license before the horrific incident.
- Bedrick had a whopping 56 past suspensions on her license and was previously convicted in 2012 for driving while intoxicated.
- Diane Bedrick, Kerri Bedrick’s mother, said her daughter had been struggling with medical issues before the tragedy.
Bedrick suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, as did the drivers of three other vehicles involved in the chain-reaction wreck, state police said.
“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,” said Stephen Udice, state police Troop L commander.
Video published by the outlet showed Bedrick groggily being escorted by police from a hospital.
Kerri Bedrick was arraigned Friday morning and ordered held on $1 million bail.
