A New York mother is accused of driving the wrong way on a highway while impaired by drugs and causing a “severe” four-car collision that killed her 9-year-old son, according to state police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deadly crash occurred early Thursday in Suffolk County, Long Island. Police said Kerri Bedrick, 32, was behind the wheel of the wrong-way vehicle, and SUV. Her son, Eli Henrys, who was in the back seat, died in the collision, police said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bedrick was charged with multiple illegal drug and driving offenses, online court records show. The counts include a top charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance \u2013 methamphetamine \u2013 as well as driving while impaired by drugs, aggravated DWI with a child in the vehicle, endangering the welfare of a child, and operating a vehicle without a license, the records show. She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment on Friday and her bail was set at $1 million cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bedrick, of Centerport, was brought into the courtroom for her arraignment handcuffed, dressed in a blue hospital gown and in a wheelchair. She is due back in court on Aug. 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABC News has reached out to Bedrick’s attorney for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crash occurred on the Southern State Parkway and caused extensive damage to all vehicles, police said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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 at a press briefing on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drivers of three of the vehicles, including Bedrick, were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Bedrick’s SUV was the only one with an additional passenger, police said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the crash, a Suffolk County Sheriff’s deputy had observed the 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross driving the wrong way in the lane next to him on the highway around 2:15 a.m. Thursday, according to Deputy Undersheriff John Becker. The deputy turned around and activated his lights and sirens and attempted to stop it, Becker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“However, the wrong-way driver sped up and refused to stop,” Udice said.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The deputy then came upon the four-car collision, Becker said. The deputy removed the child, who had been wearing a seatbelt, from the back seat and attempted life-saving measures, but the boy died after being transported to a local hospital, Becker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This was a traumatic event for all those involved,” he told reporters during the briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Police believe Bedrick had also been driving the wrong way down Sunrise Highway prior to getting on the Southern State Parkway, Udice said.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n During Friday’s arraignment, Bedrick’s attorney told the court that she has several medical ailments, including spina bifida and narcolepsy, and was also a domestic violence victim, ABC New York station WABC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My client was a victim. She was on medication that was prescribed for her,” the lawyer said, according to WABC. “She is in denial, has not absorbed what happened to her and her son’s death.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bedrick’s attorney asked for a reasonable bail so that the mother could attend her child’s funeral, before the judge set bail at $1 million cash, WABC reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bedrick’s mother, Diane Bedrick, briefly spoke to reporters outside the courthouse following Friday’s arraignment, saying her daughter was a good mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “She loves him so much,” she said, calling her grandson a “sweetheart.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if the medical problems mentioned by her daughter’s attorney in court could have played a role in this, Diane Bedrick replied, “I think so.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n