Former New York City police officer Andrew Kelly admitted he was intoxicated when he struck and killed a Brooklyn woman last year. On Wednesday he entered a guilty plea to the felony charge of vehicular manslaughter. He also apologized directly to the victim’s husband and father.
Kelly had been partying with three friends on a Saturday evening in September 2009, though it was reported that he stopped drinking at 9:45 pm because he was the designated driver. Around 1:00 am, he struck Vionique Valnord with his Jeep as she stood in the middle of the street waiting for a taxi. Kelly stopped and rendered aid until paramedics arrived. Valnord died later at a hospital.
Some police officers responding to the accident said that Kelly reeked of alcohol and had slurred speech and glassy eyes, however three precinct cops gave Kelly gum and water and claimed he did not appear drunk. Kelly refused to submit to a breath test. A warrant for a blood alcohol test was secured more than seven hours after the accident, and at that time Kelly’s BAC registered zero. Kelly’s New York DWI defense attorney denied his client was intoxicated.
Following Wednesday’s plea, Kelly was sentenced to 90 days in jail and agreed to undergo alcohol treatment. Prior to the plea deal with prosecution, he could have been sentenced to seven years in prison. Kelly resigned from the NYPD on September 3. The three officers who assisted Kelly were suspended from the force after an internal affairs investigation found they had participated in a cover-up.
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