Last April, an 18-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a passenger van when she jumped a curb, drove the vehicle into a house and killed the 69-year-old homeowner who was working on her home's landscaping in Hempstead, Long Island. Kayla Gerdes, allegedly high on Oxycontin and Xanax at the time, turned down a plea deal yesterday that would have put her in prison for 10 years. The pre-trial hearing also revealed what Gerdes told a cop about victim Rebecca Twine Wright, "She looked up at me at the last second, but she was too old to get out of the way."
This is consistent with the previously-reported statement that Gerdes, who only had a learner's permit and allegedly took the wheel because the original driver was going too slow (she had to make a court appearance for stealing her mother's jewelry), gave to the police, "The thing that made me feel not so bad was she was old. I mean, 70 years is a long time to live." (Gerdes also told them she had taken drugs.) Hempstead Village Police Officer Anthony Rogers also said that when he approached Gerdes, she had slurred speech, glassy eyes and constricted pupils. According to Newsday, he testified, "I noticed she was unsteady on her feet. Her demeanor changed - one second excited, next she appeared to be almost depressed." However, Rogers did admit during the cross-examination that his paperwork did not note Gerdes' glassy eyes or slurred speech.
Gerdes told reporters, "The monster I've been portrayed to be, I'm not. I'm so sorry for the family." Her lawyer also said that she snorted Oxycontin after the accident, not before, which made Twine-Wright's son more upset. Chauncey Twine told the Post, "So she's lying about things she has already admitted doing. She is very manipulative. She's very calculating."
