Kerri Bedrick wandered into the Middle Island Fire Department in January 2023 showing signs of hallucinations, paranoia and rage.

Emergency personnel took the 30-year-old single mother to the hospital and sent her then-7-year-old son to live with his grandmother while she underwent treatment.

The incident was reported to Suffolk County Child Protective Services whose workers didn’t follow up with the fire department or people concerned she wasn’t ready to be released from the hospital. Records show CPS caseworkers investigated at least seven complaints against Bedrick since 2018 alleging drug use, neglect and abuse of her son, Eli. The boy told caseworkers after the fire department incident that his mother was hearing voices and that "bad things" were happening at home.

Each time, the caseworkers deemed the complaints unsubstantiated and took no action.

On a cool night last August, police said Bedrick took methamphetamines and strapped Eli into his child seat in her Mitsubishi SUV. They left their Centerport home to get food. On the trip, Bedrick claims Eli fell asleep and that she didn't want to wake him because he hadn't been sleeping well so she kept driving. While on the Southern State she steered the vehicle the wrong way down the eastbound lane of the high-speed parkway, sometimes reaching speeds of 100 mph. Around Exit 42, in the Town of Islip, she crashed head on into another car, causing two others to collide as well.

Police arrived to find Bedrick standing next to the wreckage. Eli was still in the back seat badly hurt, with life-threatening injuries. Troopers and sheriff’s deputies raced to perform CPR, but Eli died a short time later. He was 9.

A new state review of the boy's death is bringing fresh attention to failures in a Suffolk County child protection system that elected leaders had vowed to reform. The public review offers a rare look into the short and tragic life of Eli Henrys and a child-protection system that failed to save him.

State regulators found deficiencies in a pattern of the complaints about Eli’s safety while under his mother’s care, according to a child fatality review report done by the New York Office of Children and Family Services.

At the time of the Aug. 22 crash, Bedrick had already been in the CPS system for nearly five years, more than half her son's life. The complaints ranged from inadequate guardianship to physical abuse to an allegation that she was selling and using methamphetamines in front of her son, according to the report filed in late December and posted on the state office’s website.

"I can't see how ... anybody would leave a child with this person," said Jorge Rosario, former bureau chief for the Children's Law Bureau for the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, who reviewed the report at Newsday’s request.

Bedrick is jailed at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead. She faces charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, fleeing an officer and aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child in the car. Prosecutors said Bedrick's blood tested positive for methamphetamines, which her defense attorney and family said were prescribed.

She and her attorneys, David Besso and Scott Zerner, declined to comment. Bedrick’s mother, Diane Bedrick, said in a brief phone interview that the complaints against her daughter were "lies." Kerri Bedrick pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Eli Henrys in 2018 and in the 2023-24 West Middle Island Elementary School yearbook.

Eli’s death came after county officials promised sweeping reforms to the department in the wake of the death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva. The boy died in January 2020 of hypothermia after his father hosed him down and forced him to sleep in a frigid, unheated garage.

A special grand jury found that CPS had received more than 10 reports alleging abuse against Thomas, but that CPS deemed those reports unfounded.

Thomas’ father, Michael Valva, a former New York City police officer, and his then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, who also was convicted in his death for exiling him to the garage and failing to help him, are serving 25 years to life in prison.

Kerri Bedrick, inside courtroom at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead where she was indicted on Sept. 4, 2024, for driving the wrong on the Southern State Parkway last month and killing her son.

New York State law requires that the Office of Children and Family Services conduct an investigative review after a child’s death. If there are no siblings, the review is posted online without names of the victim or the people who filed complaints. The specific details in the December review enabled Newsday to confirm that it concerned Eli Henrys.

OCFS denied a request for supporting documents in the case, citing state law requiring confidentiality in child abuse cases.

The state review criticized CPS’ handling of the fire department incident and highlighted problems in the handling of other complaints about Bedrick’s care of the boy. The criticism raises new questions about the effectiveness of the promised CPS reforms.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who took office in January 2024, spoke of the pain of Thomas Valva's death and the need for reforms during his campaign. He declined to be interviewed for this story. John Imhof, Romaine's new Social Services commissioner, also declined to comment about Eli's case. Frances Pierre, who oversaw CPS as Social Services commissioner during the Valva and Bedrick cases, did not respond to a request for an interview.

Much of Eli’s life was often filled with chaos, caught in the swirl of parents who frequently tangled with the law. Police were called to the house dozens of times over his lifetime.

Eli’s father, Dean Henrys, who now lives on Staten Island, failed in court to win custody and visitation in 2020. He sued for custody because he did not feel Eli was safe with his mother, according to the state review.

When Eli was 3, Henrys came home drunk and hit Bedrick while she was holding the child. Police arrested and charged Henrys, who was sentenced to two years in prison.

Henrys declined to be interviewed but emailed Newsday a statement.

"Hopefully your story brings some much needed change to [Suffolk] CPS," Henrys wrote. "They failed one to [sic] many times."

Rosario, the children's law attorney, also said the agency failed Eli, as well as his mother.

"You feel for this, this young boy who had the rest of his life to live," Rosario said. "You feel for the extended family. You know, I feel for the mother, too, because in this situation, she clearly needed help, and she wasn't given help."

'A very good boy'

The resting place of Eli D. Henrys at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Cutchogue.

Eli spent most of his brief life in Middle Island, where his parents owned a home. In kindergarten, he became friendly with the granddaughter of his next-door neighbor Yolanda Celentano.

She regularly got Eli off the bus because his mother often wasn’t home, she said in an interview.

"The kid would get off the bus, he’d be sitting on the stoop, and nobody’s ever home," said Celentano’s adult daughter, Heidi Dawood. "You’re in kindergarten."

Celentano said she was concerned about the people she saw constantly coming and going from Bedrick’s home, so she refused to let her granddaughter play there. Instead, the children would play after school at her house, and he would eat dinner there. His favorite meal was chicken cutlets.

He was a sweet, well-mannered child, Dawood said. "Very respectful," she said, "He was a very, very good boy."

37 police calls

Police stopped Bedrick 23 times in the six years from May 2018 through March 2024, according to records obtained by Newsday. Law enforcement officers charged Bedrick 12 different times with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, a misdemeanor.

In addition, Suffolk police responded to 37 calls at her home on Arnold Drive in Middle Island.

Meanwhile, CPS responded to at least seven complaints about Eli’s care.

STORYWIDGET: INCPS250309_timeline

On May 30, 2018, Suffolk police stopped Bedrick in Mastic for making a right turn without signaling. The officer cited her for having a suspended license, which resulted from a DWI conviction in 2012, and not having an ignition interlock device in her car. She was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, according to court records.

That same day, CPS received an allegation of inadequate guardianship. Six weeks later, CPS determined the complaint was unfounded, records show.

On Jan. 21, 2019, police responded to a call about a "strangulation," according to police records. Henrys had come home intoxicated and hit Bedrick while she was holding 3-year-old Eli. Police arrested and charged Henrys, who was sentenced to two years in prison.

Bedrick won custody of Eli, the state report said. CPS provided Bedrick with "preventive services," which are not detailed in the report.

Bedrick said she suffered permanent injuries as a result of that fight, according to a recent court filing in which she is demanding that the Suffolk County Correctional Facility provide her with specific medication and to be transferred into the care of Peconic Bay Hospital. Among the alleged injuries she claimed are narcolepsy, spina bifida, daytime somnolence, attention deficit disorder, arthritis, learning disabilities, diminished cognitive function and cataplexy, which is a loss of muscle function.

The state report did not note any injuries resulting from the domestic dispute.

The months that followed her separation from Henrys were difficult financially for Bedrick, and to help cover the mortgage, she often took in renters, said Aleksandra Kovalchuk, her former co-worker at a beauty salon in Queens.

Eli D. Henrys with his mother, Kerri Bedrick, on September 29, 2016. Henrys died in a car accident on Aug. 22, 2024.

"She was a very loving mother," said Kovalchuk, who hasn’t spoken to Bedrick since the pandemic. "So that's why, when I found out what happened, it was such a big shock, because I knew how much she loved that boy."

In January 2021, CPS received complaints of inadequate guardianship of Eli. Six weeks later, CPS determined that the allegations were unfounded and closed the case, state records show.

The following October, there was another complaint of inadequate guardianship, but this one included a very serious and specific allegation: Bedrick and her boyfriend allegedly were selling methamphetamines in front of Eli and getting high on the drugs while he was in their care.

Again, CPS determined the complaint was unfounded. Records of unfounded complaints are not publicly available.

That same month, her driver’s license was suspended again, this time because of a lapse in insurance, according to state Department of Motor Vehicle records.

The following year was particularly turbulent. Police stopped her seven times and ticketed her for unlicensed driving and speeding. In addition, police were called to her house 12 times to handle reports of disturbances, a domestic dispute, a suspicious person and an overdose, police records show.

When police were called to handle a landlord-tenant dispute on April 11, 2022, CPS got a complaint. The caller said Bedrick was using illegal drugs daily, became delusional and paranoid and left then-6-year-old Eli unsupervised and hungry. A CPS worker interviewed Eli, and he said he was eating. Bedrick said that a friend had been staying in her garage and that he was the one using illegal drugs. CPS closed the case "appropriately," according to the state review.

The state review did note that Suffolk CPS incorrectly omitted that Bedrick had been in a domestic violence dispute.

Found wandering

Middle Island Fire Department located at 31 Arnold Dr, Middle Island NY.

After Bedrick walked into the local fire department, the state review found numerous failings in CPS’ handling of that incident, including caseworkers not contacting sources who reported that it was not safe for Bedrick to be discharged from the hospital. Also, caseworkers did not note the safety risks posed by the fact that Bedrick stopped taking her medication against doctors' advice and did not participate in mental health services.

Bedrick "displayed erratic behavior during casework contacts," but they didn’t offer her services, the report said.

STORYWIDGET: INCPS25_tearFD

By then, Bedrick was unemployed and her house was in foreclosure, according to records. She was stopped by police 10 times in 2023. In June alone, police stopped her four times. In one incident, the officer noted her son sitting in the back seat without a seat belt.

In May 2023, CPS opened the last investigation against Bedrick. It included allegations of inadequate guardianship and physical abuse. According to the report, both Bedrick and Eli denied the use of physical discipline. The report does not specify if Eli was interviewed at home. The investigation was closed as unfounded in June 2023. The state review said the concerns about Bedrick’s mental health should have been reflected in the paperwork, but that it wouldn’t affect the result.

Melina A. Healey, an assistant professor and director of clinical programs at Touro Law School, reviewed the state report at Newsday’s request. She said she was reluctant to draw legal conclusions but said the OCFS review suggested there were weaknesses in CPS’ handling of Bedrick’s case.

"OCFS, the state agency overseeing child protective services, concluded that there were deficiencies in CPS’s prior investigations of the family. In response to reports of serious allegations of maltreatment, CPS must conduct thorough safety assessments, carefully gather and document information, and offer appropriate mental health and other services. OCFS is saying that didn’t happen in this case," she said in an email.

'It was very dark'

New York State Police investigate an accident on the Eastbound Southern State Parkway east of Exit 42 Fifth Avenue at about 2:25 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. A reported wrong way driver struck multiple vehicles cauing at least one life threatening injury. The accident is under investigation.

The first few months of 2024 appeared chaotic for Bedrick. Police stopped her four times from January through March 2024 and ticketed her for driving with a suspended license. Meanwhile, the court issued 56 license suspensions — one for each ticket — for failure to answer summonses, records show.

The process of clearing a license suspension is complicated and "not user-friendly," said Daniel Friedman, a criminal attorney who specializes in traffic cases.

She continued driving.

On the night of Aug. 21, Bedrick went out with Eli for food between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eli fell asleep in the vehicle. She said she drove around so he would sleep because he had not slept in several days due to an unspecified medical diagnosis, the report states. A white van began to follow her. Fearful that it would force her off the road, she said she called 911. She said a dispatcher told her to pull over, but she said she was too afraid. She kept driving, according to the account she gave the authorities after the crash.

Bedrick pulled over to sleep. When she woke up, she said she became disoriented. Cars were beeping at her because she was driving too slowly. Then a patrol car bumped her rear bumper, she said.

She panicked, and her left leg became stiff. She was unable to take it off the gas pedal, she later told the authorities.

Bedrick said she didn’t know she was driving the wrong way: "It was very dark, and the exits were confusing, even with the red wrong-way signs," according to the child fatality report.

Around 2:15 a.m., a deputy sheriff assigned to DWI enforcement spotted a 2022 Mitsubishi SUV driving west in the eastbound lanes of the parkway near Carleton Avenue in Islip and followed her, the report said.

At one point, according to prosecutors, the officer was also driving the wrong way on the Southern State, trying to pull her to the shoulder. He had to stop because of oncoming traffic.

The deputy sheriff then tried to drive the right way and pull up ahead of her, said Major Stephen Udice, commander of the New York State Police Troop L barracks in Farmingdale.

But the deputy sheriff couldn’t get ahead of her. Bedrick sped the wrong way for several miles, hitting speeds of up to 100 mph and passing eight cars along the way, prosecutors said.

Then Bedrick’s car slammed into another car head-on. Two other cars crashed as a result. The impact launched her Mitsubishi’s engine into the woods. Everyone involved was taken to the hospital, Udice said.

Police investigate an accident on the eastbound Southern State Parkway, east of exit 42, on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024.

The first two troopers on the scene found Bedrick standing outside her car. She said her son was in the back seat, the report said. The troopers pulled him out of the car and immediately began CPR. They worked feverishly on him and jumped into the ambulance when it arrived so that they could continue CPR, Udice said.

"They watched this boy's life disappear in front of their eyes," Udice told Newsday in an interview.

Bedrick had watery eyes, slurred speech and impaired motor skills, authorities said. Asked where she was driving, she said, "I honestly don’t know." She admitted taking drugs, Ziram and methamphetamine, which she said were prescription medications. Authorities found a plastic zip-close bag with methamphetamine pills.

Bedrick showed no emotion, according to the state review. She was making comments that made "no sense." At the hospital, she said, "Jeffrey Epstein was trying to kidnap me and (the subject child)."

Eli was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m.

With Grant Parpan

Despite promises to look into child-welfare systems, little has been done

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