Driver in Fatal Queens Crash Was Hiding Crack Pipe

On Monday afternoon, Sheila Bethea was driving five young girls to a foster center in Queens, New York, when she crossed a double yellow line and collided with an oncoming minivan. It was later found that Bethea had alcohol in her system, and she was hiding a crack pipe in a body cavity. Catherine Willis, 15, and Melissa Elhmer-Mirra, 5, were killed in the crash.

The middle row of seats had been removed in Bethea’s minivan and two of the children were seated on the floor at the time of the crash, though it was not known whether the two girls who died were the ones seated on the floor.

The New York Times reports that Bethea has been charged with manslaughter, assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. The police also executed a search warrant at the hospital where Bethea was being treated, as investigators wanted a sample of her blood to see if she was under the influence of narcotics. Bethea was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where it was later discovered that she had hidden a crack pipe, wrapped in tissue, in a body cavity.

About an hour and a half after the crash, tests showed that Bethea had a 0.03 percent blood alcohol level, below the 0.08 percent legal definition of intoxication. In 2003, Bethea was convicted of driving while impaired after she refused to submit to a chemical test, according to a spokesman for the State Department of Motor Vehicles. She regained her license in July.

The Rev. Owen E. Williams, the pastor at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Jamaica and a spokesman for the family, said all five children were under the foster care of Genevieve Bethea, the mother of Sheila Bethea.

“She was every bit of a 5-year-old: she was curious, she was very energetic,” Mr. Williams said, referring to Melissa.

Another child, Tatiana Bethea, was in intensive care in a medically induced coma, the pastor said. The other two girls, a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old, were released from Jamaica Hospital on Tuesday, according to a hospital official.

The pastor said he was unaware of any drug or alcohol abuse in the family and declined to comment on the circumstances of the accident.

Fatou Sonko, 42, was sitting in the front seat of Bethea’s minivan; she had a severe head injury and may lose the use of one of her eyes, the police said. She is believed to be a nanny for the five children, who live in the same home in Queens, the police said.

The other minivan was driven by a 63-year-old man who was treated at a hospital and released, the police said.

Witness Charnele Melvin, 19, said she saw Bethea’s Mazda coming down Dunkirk Street at about 60 miles an hour. The speed limit there is 30 miles per hour. The other vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction on Dunkirk Street and was about to make a left turn onto Arcade Avenue when the collision occurred, she said.

“It sounded like a truck hit a building,” Melvin said. She said the driver got out of the vehicle and seemed unsteady. Her speech was slurred and her breath smelled of liquor.

“She was wobbling a lot,” Melvin said. “She kept saying, ‘I was going too fast, I was going too fast.’”

One of the children told detectives that she had just left her foster home and was being driven to a foster care center in Queens.

Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said in a statement, “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.”

He added: “As a result of the defendant’s alleged actions, the lives of two young people have been needlessly and prematurely forfeited and others have suffered serious injuries. While the defendant must live with the burden of knowing that her alleged conduct has led to two deaths and multiple injuries to others, it offers small consolation to the victims and their families.”