HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. The 18-year-old woman charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of Hempstead woman told her side of the story Wednesday, and some of her comments are shocking.
Police say Kayla Gerdes was high on painkillers when she drove a van onto the front lawn and into a house in Hempstead, killing homeowner Rebecca Twine-Wright, 69, who was mowing her lawn.
Before her arraignment at Nassau County District Court on Wednesday, a very emotional Gerdes told reporters "I didn't mean to do it. The car went out of control -- I was pressing the brake...it was a mistake."
However, it's what she told police that is hard to believe.
At 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, about 16 hours after the Tuesday morning accident, in a statement to police, Gerdes was quoted as saying: "The thing that made me feel not so bad was she was old. "I mean, 70 years is a long time to live."
Defense attorney John R. Lewis says his client was headed to court on Tuesday to face grand larceny charges for stealing jewelry from her mother when the crash occurred.
Lewis says Gerdes was devastated when told that Twine-Wright had been killed. Wright was a retired doctor and mother of two.
Lewis said Gerdes had been in rehabilitation for drug addiction but left after seven days, apparently after insurance coverage ran out. Lewis said that she was released early from a 28-day drug rehabilitation program because her mother's insurer would pay for only seven days worth of treatment.
She pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while ability impaired by drugs and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
She was held on $200,000 bond and is due back in court on Friday.
"The thing that made me feel not so bad was she was old. "I mean, 70 years is a long time to live."
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