Kerri A. Bedrick, mother charged in crash that killed 9-year-old son, had 56 prior driver's license suspensions, DA says

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office will pursue homicide charges against a Centerport woman charged with a wrong-way, drug-impaired crash that killed her 9-year-old son on the Southern State Parkway on Thursday after disclosing she had 56 prior suspensions on her driver's license.

The driver, Kerri A. Bedrick, 32, appeared on Friday morning in First District Court in Central Islip in a wheelchair and blue prison scrubs to face charges of methamphetamine possession, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, driving while impaired by drugs, felony aggravated DWI with a child under 16 and endangering the welfare of a child.

Her lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf.

"We are intending to take this case to the grand jury to pursue a homicide indictment," Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcombe said at the hearing.

A test conducted by Suffolk County District Attorney investigators found evidence of the powerful illegal stimulant and other drugs in her system. Various pills were found strewed around her vehicle after the crash, officials said.

Bedrick told prosecutors that she had taken the drugs at 8 the night before the crash. 

Authorities said Bedrick’s son, Eli D. Henrys, died Thursday morning from the impact of the wreck. He was riding in the back seat of her 2022 Mitsubishi SUV traveling west in the eastbound lanes near Carleton Avenue in Islip just after 2 a.m. when Bedrick slammed head-on into a Mercedes going in the correct direction. Her car also glanced off a black Honda, which struck a Chevrolet Silverado pickup. 

Authorities said a Suffolk County deputy sheriff assigned to DWI enforcement spotted Bedrick early Thursday morning heading west in the eastbound lanes near Carleton Avenue in Islip.

The officer followed the car with lights and sirens on, and tried to pull her over to the shoulder of the road, but she drove faster, refusing to stop, authorities said. Prosecutors said the deputy was forced to abandon the effort because of oncoming traffic.

The deputy tried to follow Bedrick in the westbound lanes of the parkway for about five miles until she crashed in North Bay Shore.

The deputy and state police found Bedrick outside her car with Eli buckled in the back seat.

The officers pulled the boy from the vehicle and immediately started CPR. Emergency medical responders took Eli to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where he died. Bedrick suffered minor injuries, police said.

When police asked her where she was going, she said, "I honestly don't know," according to the criminal complaint.

The officer responding to the scene said that she had "watery eyes, slurred speech and impaired motor skills."

She said that the drugs were her prescription pills, Ziram and methamphetamine, court papers show.

She said she couldn't recall when she last took them.

"I don't remember if it was yesterday or today," the complaint said.

A Ziploc bag of pills that a police test confirmed were methamphetamine was also found in the car, police said.

The impact of the crash ripped the Mitsubishi engine from the vehicle, according to state police. It came to rest in the wooded area beside the road, authorities said.

Bedrick sat impassive through her arraignment, leaning forward in her wheelchair with her arms handcuffed behind the back of the chair. She did not speak.

Her mother, Diane Bedrick, spoke to reporters briefly outside the courthouse.

"She loved him so much," she told reporters, regarding Eli and said she thought her daughter was a good mother.

When asked if she tried to keep her daughter off the road, the mother did not respond.

Suffolk County prosecutors said Bedrick has a previous DWI conviction from 2012 in which she was also charged with attempted escape from law enforcement. Bedrick also has eight other open cases from 2023 and this year for aggravated driving without a license, according to court records.

She was pulled over on East Bartlett Road once in September 2023 for driving the same Mitsubishi without a license, according to a citation. Police from different jurisdictions cited her on Nov. 8 of that year for the same offense and again on Nov. 13 and Nov. 15, traffic records obtained by Newsday show.

On Jan. 24, police in Huntington pulled her over for driving without a license or car insurance in the unregistered SUV involved in the crash, according to another citation. A week later, on Elwood Road, Huntington police pulled her over again and ticketed her for the same offenses, court records say. She was not cited in February, but in March police cited her twice more, on Walt Whitman Road and again on Centerport Road, according to citations. Each time, she was issued tickets for the same offenses — driving without a license, no insurance and driving an unregistered car.

"My client has had a problem with her driver's license, yes, I will acknowledge this," her attorney, Scott Zerner, said. "I believe she is in denial, as she is before you, has not been able to process" the news of her son’s death.

All charges were misdemeanors or lower chargers and carry up to 15 days in jail maximum penalty or a $300 fine, according to the statute.

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles said the responsibility falls on law enforcement to keep dangerous drivers off the road.

"Whether a driver has one suspension or many, they are not legally permitted to drive," department spokesman Walter McClure said. "A person can continue to rack up suspensions even after they lose their driving privilege. It is up to law enforcement to remove any driver who is not operating a motor vehicle legally."

Zerner said his client suffered from various medical ailments, including spina bifida and narcolepsy.

"My client has just suffered the worst news that a parent can suffer," he said. He added that she is the victim in an ongoing domestic violence case in Suffolk County.

Zerner asked that a low bail be set so she could continue to see her doctors in Manhattan and attend services for her son: "The funeral that my client will want to attend and should attend."

Acting District Court Judge Eric Sachs set bail at $1 million.

"In my 39 years, this is probably the most tragic case I’ve been involved in," he said.

Bedrick is due back in court on Aug. 27.