What to Know
- Authorities are investigating a multi-vehicle accident on Long Island that left a 9-year-old boy dead, according to New York State Police.
- The boy was in the rear seat of the vehicle that his mother was driving in the wrong direction, New York State Police Major Stephen J. Udice, Troop L Commander, said.
- According to Udice, the crash is still under investigation. However, information gathered to this point, indicates that the wrong-way driver may have been driving the wrong way on Sunrise Highway before getting on the Southern State Parkway.
A 9-year-old boy died in a multi-vehicle, wrong-way crash caused by his mother, according to New York State Police.
Police responded to the crash around 2:20 a.m. Thursday at the Southern State Parkway eastbound near exit 42 in Islip.
State Police said four vehicles were involved.
According to police, the crash involved a wrong-way driver and ultimately claimed the life of a 9-year-old boy from Centerport.
"Prior to the collision, a Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Patrol witnessed the vehicle traveling in the wrong direction and attempted to stop that vehicle. However, the wrong way driver sped up and refused to stop," New York State Police Major Stephen J. Udice, Troop L Commander, said during a joint press conference with Suffolk County Police.
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The boy, identified as Eli Bedrick, was in the rear seat of the vehicle that his 32-year-old mother, identified as Kerri A. Bedrick, was driving in the wrong direction, according to New York State Police.
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Bedrick has been charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, aggravated DWI with a child-passenger less than 16, endangering welfare of a child, criminal possession of a stimulant, police said. She is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.
Attorney information for Bedrick was not immediately known.
All the other individuals involved in the crash were transported to area hospitals. The extent of their injuries appear to be non-life threatening, according to police.
According to Udice, the crash is still under investigation. However, information gathered to this point, indicates that the wrong-way driver may have been driving the wrong way on Sunrise Highway before getting on the Southern State Parkway.
Chopper 4 showed extensive wreckage on the roadway, with debris scattering the pavement. The highway was shut down in the area for a time to assist in the investigation and later reopened.
"To give you an idea of the severity of the impact, the engine of the wrong-way driver vehicle was thrown from that vehicle into the woods, some distance from the collision," Udice said.
Authorities are asking anyone who may have seen the wrong-way vehicle leading up to the crash, or has any other information, to contact the New York State Police at 631-756-3300.
"This is a true tragedy," Udice said.
