The Long Island mom charged in the wrong-way crash that killed her 9-year-old son admitted to taking methamphetamine and was driving on a suspended license before the horrific incident, prosecutors said Friday — as she was held on $1 million bail.
Kerri Bedrick, 32, was carted into a Suffolk County courtroom in a wheelchair, clad in a blue hospital gown and handcuffed behind her back, for an emotional arraignment hearing that revealed shocking new details about the tragic crash.
Cops found more than 4 grams of pills in Bedrick’s SUV that tested positive for meth — and she ‘fessed up to taking it before driving with her son Eli D. Henrys in the backseat, according to a felony criminal complaint.
“She also made an admission that she had taken methamphetamine at 8 p.m. the night previously before she started driving,” said Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcombe.
She drove the wrong way on the South State Parkway and caused a four-vehicle crash that ultimately killed her child, they said.
Cops found a watery-eyed Bedrick standing outside the driver’s door of the car, slurring her words as she spoke, court documents state.
“I honestly don’t know,” she told officers when asked where she had been driving to, according to the documents.
Asked if she’d taken any drugs that evening, she replied that “those are my prescriptions in my purse, it’s Ziram and methamphetamine,” the court documents state. Ziram is a medication used to treat hypertension.
Bedrick was asked when the last time she took that medication was, and answered, “I don’t remember if it was yesterday or today,” the filing states.
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.
She also had a whopping 56 past suspensions on her license, which was actively suspended during her fatal drive, Newcombe said.
Newcombe said Bedrick was previously convicted in 2012 for driving while intoxicated.
Bedrick, of Centerport, was allegedly spotted driving a 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross SUV on the wrong side of the Southern State Parkway near Exit 42 in Islip around 2:15 a.m.
She flew by a Suffolk County sheriff’s deputy who tried to pull her over, and sped up just moments before careening into another car, causing the four-car pile-up, state police said.
The drivers of two other vehicles in the pile-up — 29-year-old Haydee Meyer and 24-year-old David Picard — were hospitalized with minor injuries.
“By the grace of God, David is doing better,” Picard’s father told The Post on Friday.
Prosecutors said during Friday’s hearing that they would be pursuing homicide charges against Bedrick.
She is currently charged with aggravated DWI with a child passenger under 16 years old, aggravated driving without a license, criminal possession of a stimulant, operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.
Eleanor Gery, who in a past case represented Bedrick, cast the troubled mother as a victim of domestic violence from Eli’s father, who had served years in prison for beating her.
Scott Zerner, Bedrick’s attorney, said in court Bedrick also suffered a host of medical problems, from epilepsy to narcolepsy and spina bifida.
The attorney argued lower bail should be set, saying Bedrick was under medical care by doctors in Manhattan and wants to attend her son’s funeral.
“My client has just suffered a loss, the worst loss a parent could suffer,” he told the court.
Judge Eric Sachs said that in his 39 years on the bench, this is “one of the most tragic cases I’ve been involved in” as he set an astronomical bail for Bedrick, who is next due in court Aug. 27.
CREDIT: NY Post Georgett Roberts Matt Troutman Desheania Andrews
