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LI mom charged with murder after son, 9, died in wrong-way crash
BAY SHORE, N.Y. (PIX11) — A mom was charged with murder after her 9-year-old son died during a head-on crash on a Long Island highway last month, authorities said.
Kerri Bedrick, 32, was indicted Wednesday on 21 charges, including murder in the second degree, in connection to the Aug. 22 incident, prosecutors said. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
"This was an accident," her defense lawyer said.
Authorities said Bedrick was driving 100 mph down the wrong way of the Southern State Parkway and passed eight cars before crashing her Mitsubishi SUV head-on into a Mercedes at around 2 a.m.
The defendant's engine flew into the woods, catching fire after impact.
Officers found the boy, Eli D. Henrys, unconscious in the backseat and tried to revive him before he was rushed to the hospital, where he died from blunt-force injuries, officials said.
Bedrick was given a sobriety test at the scene and cops found prescription pills in her car. She tested positive for prescribed methamphetamine at the hospital, authorities said.
Bedrick, sitting in a wheelchair and wearing green and white prison clothes, is being held without bail. She has a prior DWI arrest from 2012 and her license was suspended 56 times.
"Nobody has suffered with the exception of her son more than my client. She is devastated by the loss of her child," the defense lawyer said.