By Ivan Pereira
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A Queens Village woman is under arrest after she slammed her minivan packed with her younger foster sisters into another car Monday evening, killing two of the children and sending everyone else to the hospital, police said.
Shelia Bethea, 45, of 199th Street, was set to be arraigned in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday on reckless endangerment and manslaughter charges in the two-car collision that took place at the corner of Arcade Avenue and Dunkirk Street in St. Albans, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Bethea was carrying five girls, believed to be her mother’s foster children, in her 1995 Mazda minivan, and was traveling north on Dunkirk around 5 p.m. when she crossed the double yellow line, traveled sideways and struck a Toyota minivan that was traveling southbound on the street, according to police.
“I heard this loud bang and we saw this woman screaming,” said Dania Williams who lives in a house near where the accident took place.
The crash was so powerful that debris and objects inside the Mazda, including several records, an umbrella and a stereo speaker, were scatted for half a block along Arcade Avenue.
Police, fire crews and EMS responded to the scene quickly and some nearby residents helped to get the children to safety. Charnele Melvin, 19, who saw the accident from her front lawn, immediately ran to the Mazda minivan and tended to the children who she said were handicapped and could not get out of the van.
The college student said that the girls, aged between five and 15, were bleeding and had bruises so she got them to her front lawn and let medics take charge.
“I don’t know what made me do it,” she said. “I just wanted to be a Good Samaritan.”
Katherine Willis, a 15-year-old passenger in the Mazda, was pronounced dead when she arrived at Queens Hospital less then an hour after the accident, police said.
Another 5-year-old passenger, Melissa Elh-Mirra, was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital and succumbed to her critical injuries Tuesday morning, according to police.
Bethea was taken to North Shore in stable condition and arrested later in the night, investigators said. The Queens DA’s office said that the Mazada was missing the middle row of seats and at least one of the girls were sitting on the floor.
“This case is the latest in a series of tragic motor vehicle accidents that have dominated the news in recent months – cases involving motorists who engage in high-risk behavior while driving cars packed with innocent children,” Queens DA Richard Borwn said in a statement.
Two of the Mazda’s passengers, a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old, were sent to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition and a 5-year-old passenger was taken to Queens Hospital in critical condition as of press time Tuesday, according to the authorities. An unidentified 43-year-old passenger who was in the Mazda was also injured, the Queens DA’s office said.
Carl Williams, the 63-year-old Long Island driver of the Toyota who was not carrying any passengers, was taken to North Shore University Hospital in stable condition and was not charged by the police as of Tuesday morning.
Melvin said that Bethea looked disorientated after the accident but she was not charged with any counts related to driving under the influence.
