Mom Charged with Vehicular Manslaughter
Last week, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, assault, and DUI charges against 31-year old Carmen Huertas. Huertas piled eight children (including her own daughter and fourteen-month old son) into her car to have a sleep over at her house. This was after she reportedly left a party with a BAC of 0.13%.
Before she drove off, her son was taken out of the car by the child’s father, Eduardo Henriquez. Henriquez knew Huertas wasn’t fit to drive and tried to stop her. When she wouldn’t listen, he removed his son from the car…but unfortunately not the keys.
As a result, three of the remaining seven children were ejected from the car when Huertas lost control, allegedly travelling 20 miles-per-hour over the speed limit. Before one of these eleven-year-old girls was killed, Huertas was apparently taunting the girls, demanding that they raise their hands if they thought they would make it home without crashing. Five of the children were not wearing seatbelts, and the three who were ejected weren’t even in seats.
Prosecutors are considering filing charges against Henriquez and possibly others who were at the party. Huertas was seen downing cognac before piling the girls into the car. As it currently stands, Huertas faces a maximum of fifteen-years in prison for the vehicular manslaughter charges.
New York is also considering enacting a law to punish any DUI where minors are in the vehicle as an automatic felony. Most states, including California, pursue misdemeanor child endangerment charges for DUI cases where children are in the car. This case, however, will undoubtedly prompt lobbyists to fight for stricter DUI penalties.
