Woman Arrested In Suspected DWI Crash, 11-Year-Old Dead

Early Sunday morning, a Bronx woman driving a 1998 Mercury Sable—carrying seven children, including her daughter, ages 11 to 14—crashed and overturned her car on the West Side Highway. An 11-year-old girl was killed and the Daily News reports, "Investigators said Carmen Huertas' blood-alcohol content was more than one and a half times the legal limit." Huertas, 31, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving. The girl's father said, "I call this murder."

Huertas had been driving the overpacked car (many of the girls were not wearing seatbelts) from a party in Chelsea back to her home for a sleepover. According to the News, "She failed a Breathalyzer test at the scene and her blood was drawn at the hospital later, sources said. Her sedan swerved off the highway near the W. 96th St. exit, flipped over and rolled several times before slamming into a tree, police said."

Leandra Rosado, 11, a friend of Huertas' daughter, was killed after the crash and her father Lenny Rosado expressed his outrage to NY1, "She wasn't a responsible adult, responsible individual and a responsible parent, she wasn't...Her actions led to me losing my daughter and I hate to say while all the other seven ones lived, it took my daughter and I'm very mad about that, very mad."

The Post also says that, according to one of the car's passengers, Huertas jokingly asked the girls, "Who thinks something's gonna happen? Raise your hand. Who thinks we're gonna get into an accident?" And apparently all the girls raised their hands. One, 14-year-old Yismel Rosario, described the crash, "The car started swerving back and forth. I was like, 'Oh, my God!' Then it flipped over. Gisele, Kayla and Leandra flew out of the car. Their eyes were closed. I got out of the car and went to my sister, [Gisele]. I held her and said, 'If you can hear me, nod your head.' I told her it would be OK, that help is on the way." Gisele Rosario broke both legs and also underwent back surgery; one other girl was critically injured while the five others and Huertas suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Rosado said that his daughter had spent Friday night at Huertas' home and called him on Saturday to ask if she could spend another night, because she was having such a good time with Huertas' daughter Brittney Gonzales. The NY Times reports, "On Saturday, Leandra returned to Chelsea to pick up a change of clothes. That night Mr. Rosado dropped her off at an apartment on West 20th Street about 8 p.m. 'I gave her money, and she hugged me and said, "I love you, Dad," ' he said Sunday morning, wiping away a tear." He added that there needed to be stricter DWI penalties, "New York City, New York State, they need to get tough with this."

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By Jen Chung in News on October 12, 2009 9:28 AM

Comments [rss]

ed_Extinct

drunk driving punishments are a joke in this country.

polit_burro

Outside of executing people on the spot, harsher penalties will never work. Even with all the high profile tragedies, public awareness campaigns and stiffer penalties, people continue to do this every single day.

One day they're going to have make it so that cars won't start if the driver is inebriated.

Politburo

That day may be closer than you think. The neo-prohibitionists, MADD, want to make this a reality.

Joshua

"One day they're going to have make it so that cars won't start if the driver is inebriated."

This probably will be the only way. As long as there is alcohol and other mind-altering drugs there will be people who need to dull their nerves, escape their lives, and effectively not deal with their issues by getting inebriated.

FunChop

The father is right, there should be much harsher penalties.

In this case (or any drunk driving case which results in a loss of life), I would say that the mother is guilty of murder and should either spend the rest of her life in prison or be executed.

Steven

This is just like the Taconic State Parkway crash. 8 people in a Mercury Sable!??? It probably carries 5 TOPS 6 passengers at the most.

JenChungsBaby

The driver submitted to a breath test? She didn't get the NYPD memo I guess on how to act when arrested for DWI.

dwayno

i can't help but think the father is angry because it's partially his fault. parents should always double check who's hands they're putting their children's lives in. after my own parents heard about a lot of drunk bus drivers on the news, i missed tons of field trips and sleepovers growing up.

fezziwig

Although "angry" probably doesn't begin to describe the hell that poor man is going through, yeah, of course he's angry.

But I agree with dwayno's comment, in that I also wonder where the father was--why wasn't he at the party, or at least stopping by to check on the person would be driving his daughter that night?

I also don't get why an 11-year-old is at a party at 1 a.m. where people are drinking.

hotstepper

that is fucked up.

Jen Chung

It's really sad—the father is forever wish he told his daughter to come home and not spend another night with her friend. I bet he thought, "Hey, she's driving with her own daughter, so my daughter must be safe." It's like the horrible Taconic State Parkway crash—the apparently drunk mother who killed not just her daughter but her brother's three daughters, too.