New, happy photos of the doomed 9-year-old killed by his allegedly drugged-up mom after she caused a horrific wrong-way crash on Long Island belie a dark secret: she experienced “severe” domestic abuse, her former attorney claimed.
The images show Kerri Bedrick cuddling up to a much younger Eli with both beaming into the camera, while a second picture shows the chubby-cheeked child years ago with his father.
Authorities said Bedrick, 32, was high on meth when she put the about-to-be fourth grader into the backseat and headed onto the Southern State Parkway the wrong way Thursday.
But attorney Eleanor Gery, who once represented Bedrick on a past case, said there’s more to the Centerport woman’s story.
“There are many twists and turns that will come [in this case],” Gery told The Post Saturday.
Bedrick is “the type of person who gets taken advantage by others…she’s gotten the short end of the stick in many of her dealings in life,” said Gery, who has not yet been hired to rep Bedrick on her current charges.
Gery contends Bedrick was “a victim of severe, severe domestic violence.”
Bedrick also had medical issues before the crash and was on prescription medication, her mother Diane said.
When asked in court Friday if the medical issues played a role in the crash, Diane Bedrick said “I think so.”
Her ex, Eli’s father, Dean Henrys, had served years in prison, relatives said.
On Saturday, competing portraits emerged of the embattled family.
On Staten Island, Henry’s other children and current wife Zareen said he and Bedrick battled for years over custody of Eli.
Dean Henrys wasn’t present and the family said he would not speak until after Eli’s funeral, which had yet to be scheduled.
Here’s everything we know about Long Island mom’s wrong-way crash that killed her son
- Long Island mother Kerri A. Bedrick, 32, was slapped with charges in a horrific wrong-way crash that killed her 9-year-old son and injured several others early Thursday, authorities said.
- Bedrick ignored a Suffolk County deputy sheriff’s attempt to pull her over and sped up just moments before the terrifying four-car collision that killed her young son, Eli Henrys.
- The mom appeared to shuffle unsteadily as officers led her into a waiting patrol car later in the evening. She reportedly admitted to taking methamphetamine and was driving on a suspended license before the horrific incident.
- Bedrick had a whopping 56 past suspensions on her license and was previously convicted in 2012 for driving while intoxicated.
- Diane Bedrick, Kerri Bedrick’s mother, said her daughter had been struggling with medical issues before the tragedy.
They refused to comment in detail on the domestic violence allegations, except for Zareen, who said only, “He did his time, he did two years.”
They claimed Dean Henrys alerted authorities to Bedrick’s behavior and struggles with drugs, but didn’t provide proof they’d reported the allegations.
“He was literally telling them, ‘She uses drugs, she drinks, I want my son safe,’” Zareen said.
“… He was just afraid of this happening, her harming herself or [Eli]… No one listened to us.”
The family hadn’t seen Eli in four years, they said.
The boy they knew was “always happy. He was really goofy. He would just jump and have random bursts of energy,” recalled Eli’s older half-sister, Aniya Henrys, 20.
“My favorite memory of him was that he had this cardboard rocketship. He would have this imagination.”
Romeo Henrys, 18, said he used to play catch, tag, and play in the pool with his younger half-brother.
“He was just a sweet kid,” he recalled.
Bedrick is being held on $1 million bail on charges of aggravated DWI with a passenger under 16; aggravated driving without a license; criminal possession of a stimulant; operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.
It was revealed at arraignment that cops found more than four grams of pills in Bedrick’s SUV that tested positive for meth — and she admitted taking it before driving with Eli in the backseat, according to a felony criminal complaint.
Neighbors of Bedrick’s in Centerport, a tiny town on Long Island’s north shore, said she moved in less than two years ago.
“Everybody around here knows each other but no one seems to know her,” one resident said.
Scott Zerner, an attorney who represented Bedrick in court Friday, declined comment.
