Medical examiner at Jessica Beauvais trial details injuries to NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos
Jessica Beauvais appears in Queens State Supreme Court on Monday for her trial in the 2021 death of NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos Credit: Olivia Falcigno
A New York City medical examiner testified Thursday that NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos suffered a series of catastrophic injuries, including a severed brain stem, severed spinal cord and fractured skull, when he was struck and killed in 2021 on the LIE by a Hempstead woman who was allegedly driving drunk.
Dr. Terra Cederroth, who works for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner and who performed the autopsy on Tsakos, noted that in particular, the severed brain stem is a fatal injury and concluded that overall, Tsakos' cause of death was blunt impact trauma likely caused when he was struck by the car.
Cederroth was testifying as a key prosecution witness in the Queens state Supreme Court trial of Jessica Beauvais, 34, who has been charged with a series of crimes, including second-degree aggravated manslaughter, drunken driving and other offenses stemming from the death of Tsakos while the officer was on traffic duty on the Long Island Expressway.
The 43-year-old highway officer from East Northport was diverting traffic off the eastbound highway at Exit 26 in Queens early on April 27, 2021, when he was struck.
NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos of East Northport. Credit: NYPD
Police said Beauvais ignored police cones and Tsakos’ vehicle and sped through the roadblock, striking him and catapulting his body 150 feet from the point of impact.
Using five color autopsy photos to illustrate her testimony, Cederroth, under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Gregory Lasak Jr., described how she found Tsakos' body to be severely damaged, including the lower left leg, which had suffered a traumatic amputation.
The photos also showed that Tsakos’ upper right arm was bent at an unnatural angle and that his head had sustained numerous gashes, bruises and contusions.
When asked by Lasak what speed she thought the car was going that had struck Tsakos, Cederroth replied “a high rate of speed.”
Tsakos’ widow, Irene, was not in court when the autopsy photos were shown but came to hear additional testimony of a police crime-scene specialist who took photos of the damaged Volkswagen sedan Beauvais drove.
That police expert also said tests of a red liquid found in a cup in the cup holder in the Volkswagen tested positive for over 22% ethanol, which is found in alcoholic beverages. Marijuana also was found in the vehicle, police said.
On Wednesday, a police expert testified that his calculations showed the Volkswagen was traveling on the LIE at average speeds that at times exceeded 80 mph. The police expert could not say what speed Beauvais was traveling when her car struck Tsakos.
Defense attorneys for Beauvais have previously indicated she may have been traveling about 55 mph just before hitting Tsakos on a section of the roadway where the speed limit is 50 mph.
The trial before Judge Michael Aloise is scheduled to go to closing arguments next Tuesday.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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