Kerri Bedrick, of Centerport, declared competent to stand trial in crash that killed 9-year-old son, lawyer says

The Centerport mother who prosecutors have said was impaired by methamphetamine and driving at speeds of up to 100 mph when she caused a wrong-way crash, killing her 9-year-old son, has been returned to competency to stand trial, her attorney said Tuesday.

Kerri A. Bedrick, 34, had been declared by State Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz legally incompetent and placed under the care of the New York State Office of Mental Health but has since been deemed competent to stand trial, said her attorney, Ira Weissman, of Central Islip.

Now that she's been found competent to stand trial, the criminal legal proceedings against her resume. By law, they were paused while she was receiving treatment.

"She's doing very well and obviously this has been devastating for her," Weissman said.

Bedrick did not appear in a Riverhead courtroom Tuesday for a scheduled conference on the pending 21-count indictment charging her in the Aug. 22, 2024, crash that took the life of her son, Eli Henrys.

Bedrick's lawyer and the prosecutor discussed the case with the judge in chambers, out of public view.

Weissman, speaking to Newsday after, said he told the judge he plans to have Bedrick undergo an examination by a forensic psychologist "as a baseline" to determine "what was going on with her mental health-wise at the time of the incident."

The first step in seeking a plea of not  responsible by reason of mental disease or defect , commonly referred to as an insanity plea, involves a doctor determining that a defendant didn't know what they were doing was wrong and couldn't appreciate the consequences, Weissman said.

"When you're talking about a potential not-responsible plea — and I'm not saying this is where this is going — you're talking about what was her mental health at the time of the incident. Would it be right for the law to say you shouldn't be responsible for your conduct?" Weissman said. "This is a good woman. I'm trying to get to the bottom of what was going on in her life at the time."

Bedrick's previous attorney, David Besso, has said the divorced mother was a domestic violence survivor who suffered abuse that "caused lasting cognitive injuries and other complications that may have impaired" Bedrick's "mental capacity or influenced her actions at the time" of the crash.

Bedrick has pleaded not guilty to charges including depraved indifference murder, which carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. She also faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, aggravated driving while intoxicated, criminal possession of a controlled substance and fleeing a police officer.

Bedrick was westbound in her 2022 Mitsubishi SUV in the eastbound lanes of Southern State Parkway near Carleton Avenue in Islip, with Eli in the back seat, when she crashed. She passed eight cars while speeding up to 100 mph, prosecutors have said. 

A Suffolk deputy sheriff assigned to DWI enforcement saw her driving the wrong way on the parkway just after 2 a.m. and started pursuing her vehicle, prosecutors have said. The officer also began driving the wrong way on the parkway while trying to pull her over, but had to end the pursuit because of oncoming traffic. 

A pickup truck swerved out of Bedrick's way before her SUV was struck by a Honda Civic that had its passenger-side doors "sheared off," prosecutors have said. She ultimately crashed head-on into a Mercedes SUV. Two other drivers were injured in the multivehicle collision. 

Bedrick told investigators she had taken methamphetamine at 8 p.m. the day before the crash, prosecutors have said. Bedrick’s blood tested positive for methamphetamine, which her previous attorney and family members had said were prescribed by a doctor.

Eli was pronounced dead at South Shore University Hospital. 

A Newsday investigation found that Child Protective Services investigated at least seven complaints against Bedrick dating to 2018 alleging drug use, neglect and abuse of Eli, who had told caseworkers that his mother was hearing voices and that "bad things" were happening at home. CPS found the allegations unsubstantiated and took no action, Newsday reported. 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.