Oceanside woman pleads not guilty to new charges in fatal Southern State Parkway crash
Diana Kutateladze pleaded not guilty to charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter.
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A woman from Oceanside is facing 23 charges in a crash that left an elderly couple dead.
Diana Kutateladze pleaded not guilty to the 23-count indictment on Friday.
Prosecutors say she was driving more than 80 mph on the Southern State Parkway seconds before sideswiping a BMW and then going airborne across the guardrail and into oncoming traffic in the eastbound lanes.
It happened after 10 p.m. on March 15 near exit 17.
Authorities said the head-on crash instantly left Bishop Donald Maxwell and his wife, the Rev. Liscent Maxwell, dead.
"They never stood a chance," said District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
The couple, both in their 80s and from Westbury, were a staple at their Far Rockaway church. Purple bunting, along with a photo of the couple, hung outside the church on Friday.
DA Donnelly said an hour after the crash, Kutateladze's blood alcohol content was .15, which is nearly double the legal limit. The DA said the defendant's husband, her passenger, was injured so severely that he needed a ventilator to survive. The DA said he remains hospitalized more than a month after the crash.
"The defendant's reckless, drunken actions shattered a community. The Maxwells were a cornerstone of leadership and faith," said Donnelly.
The DA said that when officers at the scene asked the defendant if she had been drinking, she said she'd had one drink with a little bit of whiskey.
Donnelly said the defendant also claimed she was alone in her vehicle, an Escalade, at the time of the crash.
The defendant's attorney said her client is a mother of four; her oldest child is 6 and her youngest is 1. Kutateladze is being held without bail.
Her next court date is May 20.
The DA said at the time of the crash, the children were with their grandmother.
