Tragic Wrong-Way Crash on Long Island Parkway Claims Life of 9-Year-Old Eli “Don-Don” Henrys Mother Kerri Bedrick Indicted on Murder Charge Amid History of Alleged Drug Issues and Ignored Warnings

By Special Correspondent Long Island, NY – March 2026 (Recounting Events of August 22, 2024)

In the early morning hours of August 22, 2024, a routine highway patrol turned deadly when a wrong-way driver collided with multiple vehicles on the Southern State Parkway in Suffolk County. The victim was 9-year-old Eli Henrys, affectionately known as “Don-Don” to his family and cousins. He was buckled in the backseat of his mother’s SUV. Eli’s death has devastated his extended family, who describe the loss as irreplaceable—a cousin torn from their children’s lives, a vibrant boy gone too soon.

New York State Police and Suffolk County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene around 2:15 a.m. A deputy spotted a 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross traveling the wrong direction. When the deputy activated lights and sirens to stop the vehicle, the driver accelerated, refusing to pull over. Moments later, the SUV slammed into oncoming traffic at high speed—reportedly up to 100 mph—triggering a violent four-car pileup. The impact was so severe that the engine of Bedrick’s vehicle was ejected into the woods. Eli, wearing a seatbelt, suffered fatal blunt-force injuries and was pronounced dead at a local hospital despite life-saving efforts by first responders.

Kerri A. Bedrick, 32, of Centerport, was behind the wheel. She and drivers of the other vehicles sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Police charged her on the spot with driving while impaired by drugs, criminal possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), aggravated DWI with a child in the vehicle, endangering the welfare of a child, and unlicensed operation. A deputy removed the unconscious child from the wreckage.

abc7chicago.com

Kerri Bedrick charged with impaired driving in Long Island wrong-way crash that killed 9-year-old son Eli Henrys: New York police – ABC7 Chicago

Aerial view of the crash scene on the Southern State Parkway showing the extensive damage from the four-vehicle collision.

On September 4, 2024, a grand jury indicted Bedrick on 21 counts, including second-degree murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, fleeing law enforcement, and aggravated DWI with a child. If convicted, she faces 25 years to life in prison. She has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody. Prosecutors say Bedrick admitted to using methamphetamine and was fleeing police at the time of the crash.

Bedrick’s defense team paints a different picture. Her attorney has described her as “a victim” who was on prescribed medication for serious medical conditions, including spina bifida, narcolepsy, and cataplexy. In court, the defense argued she remains in denial about the tragedy and has not fully absorbed the loss of her son. Family members on her side, including her mother Diane Bedrick, have spoken of Kerri’s deep love for Eli and suggested the crash stemmed from her health struggles rather than intentional wrongdoing.

Yet the boy’s paternal relatives tell a starkly different story. They allege Kerri has long struggled with addiction, a pattern they say runs in her family. Kerri herself has posted on social media about losing two brothers to heroin overdoses—one named Jason, a friend to some in the community. The family claims these issues were well-known and should have kept Eli out of her care.

Court records and a subsequent state review support parts of that narrative. Suffolk County Child Protective Services received at least seven complaints against Bedrick between 2018 and 2023 alleging methamphetamine use and sales in Eli’s presence, neglect, inadequate guardianship, physical abuse, and paranoia. Eli reportedly told investigators he sometimes heard “bad things” at home. One incident in January 2023 involved Bedrick wandering into a fire department in a delusional state.

All complaints were closed as “unfounded.” A New York Office of Children and Family Services fatality review later criticized CPS for inadequate documentation of Bedrick’s mental health, failure to follow up on collateral sources, and not addressing her history of stopping medication and avoiding services. The review drew parallels to other high-profile failures in the system.

Eli’s father, Dean Henrys, had repeatedly warned authorities. He fought for custody or visitation after a 2019 domestic incident but lost. Paternal family members say they urged the courts that leaving Don-Don with his mother could end in tragedy. Kerri never appeared at several custody hearings, according to relatives.

Bedrick also had an alarming driving record: 56 license suspensions and 23 police stops for unlicensed operation between 2018 and 2024. Police responded to 37 calls at her Middle Island home.

newsday.com

Mother indicted on murder charge in wrong-way crash that killed her 9-year-old son

Kerri Bedrick appears in court following the fatal crash. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Eli Henrys was remembered by neighbors and family as a respectful, well-mannered boy who loved life. His smiling face—often seen clutching stuffed animals—now fills memorial posts under the hashtag #JusticeForEli.

The maternal grandmother, Diane Bedrick, launched a GoFundMe titled “Help Us Honor Eli Henrys Memory” shortly after the crash. She described Eli as “our only grandchild” and called the incident a “horrible traffic accident.” Funds were sought for funeral expenses, with the campaign noting the family’s profound grief. Paternal relatives have amplified the page, urging donations to help honor the boy while pushing for accountability.

As the criminal case moves forward, Eli’s paternal family continues to speak out. They say the system failed their nephew by ignoring repeated red flags—addiction patterns, license revocations, CPS complaints, and direct warnings from the boy’s father. “There’s no other way around saying it,” one relative posted. “We need #JusticeForEli.”

The tragedy has renewed calls for reform in how child protective services handle addiction and mental-health cases involving parents. State lawmakers and advocates point to this case as another example of a system that too often errs on the side of reunification until it is too late.

Eli “Don-Don” Henrys, 9, is survived by his father, cousins who now feel his absence acutely, and a grandmother on both sides mourning in their own ways. His death, while ruled a traffic fatality, is being prosecuted as murder because authorities say the impairment and flight from police demonstrated depraved indifference to human life.

Family members ask the public to remember the boy, not just the crash statistics. They hope the upcoming trial will bring answers, closure, and perhaps systemic change—so no other child is lost the way Don-Don was.

Donations to support Eli’s memorial can be made via the grandmother’s GoFundMe at gofundme.com/f/help-us-honor-elis-memory.

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abc7ny.com

Southern State wrong-way crash: Kerri Bedrick pleads not guilty in wreck that left 9-year-old son dead on Long Island – ABC7 New York

Eli Henrys, known lovingly as “Don-Don,” shown in a family photo before the tragedy that took his life.

The community grieves with the family and watches closely as justice is sought in Suffolk County Court.