The 18-year-old woman who, while allegedly high on Oxycontin and Xanax, took the wheel of a passenger van and fatally struck a homeowner, was indicted on 28 charges, including manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs. If convicted on all counts, Kayla Gerdes could face up to 59 years in prison. Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice said, "This defendant was focused on nothing else but getting high, and now an innocent woman has been violently killed."
DA Rice's press release also points out that Gerdes, who also doesn't have a license, was driving "on a straight road in good weather" in Hempstead, Long Island when she swerved and hit 69-year-old Dr. Rebecca Twine-Wright: "Dr. Twine-Wright was struck while mowing her lawn and pinned underneath the front axle of the van and the foundation of her home."
When she was being taken from the police station in April, Gerdes was emotionally yelling at reporters, "No, I didn't [purposely aim for her.] Listen, stop -- listen, it was an accident! Please leave me, alone it was a mistake! Stop it was a mistake! No, I was on prescription drugs, it was a mistake! Stop! Leave me alone!" But according to the police report, she said, "The thing that made me feel not so bad was she was old," referring to Twine-Wright, "I mean, 70 years is a long time to live."
Gerdes' lawyer claims that his client had to take control of the car from her boyfriend because he was high. He added, "Toxicology reports show that four and a half hours later she had drugs in her. It doesn't show that she had them in her system when she was driving the car," explaining that Gerdes took the drugs after the arrest. Gerdes was found with a doctor's prescription pad, 22 Oxycontin pills, and 29 Xanax pills.
