Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
BAY SHORE, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Authorities found pills in the car after an allegedly impaired mom crashed head-on into another vehicle on a Long Island highway, killing her 9-year-old son in the backseat, prosecutors said Friday.
Kerri Bedrick, 42, had allegedly taken the prescription pills the night before crashing into a Mercedes near Exit 42 on the Southern State Parkway around 2 a.m. on Thursday, officials said. Her car's engine flew out of the vehicle upon impact.
Police found her standing outside of her Mitsubishi SUV, with her 9-year-old son, Eli D. Henrys, still buckled in the back seat. The boy was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved.
"He was a lovely boy," the child's grandmother said after Bedrick was arraigned Friday.
The mom pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated unlicensed operation, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, aggravated DWI with a child passenger less than 16, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a stimulant.
She could be charged with a homicide after the case is presented to a grand jury, prosecutors said.
"One of the most tragic cases I have ever been involved in 39 years as a judge," the judge said.
Bredrick's defense lawyer said she is a victim of domestic violence and suffers from spina bifida, epilepsy, and narcolepsy. She is hoping she can attend her son's funeral.
"She is suffering from the loss. She is in denial and sits before you today not fully absorbed of what has happened," her lawyer said.
In court, authorities said a sheriff tried to pull the defendant over onto the shoulder after noticing she was allegedly speeding down the wrong way of the roadway.
The pursuit was unsafe so the sheriff went back westbound and it continued for five miles until Bredrick came across a Silverado pickup that swerved to avoid the defendant, authorities said, A Honda then spun out of the way and hit the pickup.
Bedrick then allegedly crashed head-on into a Mercedes with her son in the backseat, according to prosecutors.
The mom was evaluated at the hospital and staff determined she was allegedly impaired by drugs, authorities said.
Bedrick is due back in court on Tuesday.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.