Cop pleads guilty to killing Haitian woman while driving drunk

NEW YORK, CMC – A drunken New York Police Department (NYPD) cop who killed a Haitian woman last year while driving pleaded to vehicular manslaughter and admitted to Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Alan Marrus that he was “intoxicated” on the night of the accident. He faces 90 days behind bars.



Authorities said Officer Andrew Kelly, assigned to the 68th Police Precinct in Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, was found reeking of alcohol, with slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, after his Jeep struck 33-year-old Vionique Valnord, the daughter of a Haitian minister in Brooklyn.



Valnord was leaving a wedding at about12:41am in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn on September 28, 2009.



Kelly, 32, faced criminal charges of Driving While Intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter after prosecutors charged that he and three friends, including another off-duty cop, were driving home after a evening of drinking and watching sports on TV.



In addition to the 90 days behind bars Kelly faces five years probation and will also attend an alcohol treatment programme. He resigned from the NYPD last Friday.



Valnord’s family told Kelly they forgave him after the plea agreement.



When Judge Marrus asked him if he was guilty, he cleared his throat and said, “Yes, Your Honor.”



Lawyer Arthur Aidala said his client did a lot of soul-searching before taking the plea, adding that he didn’t want to put his family through a long trial.



Kelly also approached the Valnord family and apologised in the courtroom after the plea.



“He was most relieved when her family forgave him,” said Aidala. “He had tears in his eyes.”



Outside the courthouse, family members said they were comforted by Kelly taking responsibility for Vionique’s death.



“That helps us move forward,” said the Rev. Varius Valnord, pastor of the Haitian Church of God on Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn. “I accepted his apology.”



The civil filing the family has against the city is set to move forward, said Sanford Rubenstein, the family’s attorney.



“Cops everywhere need to know, if they get behind the wheel of a car drunk and kill someone, they will lose their jobs,” he said.