The family of a seven-year-old flower girl who was decapitated alongside a chauffer in a crash with a wrong-way drunk driver have suffered a new blow as the driver was released on parole.
Martin Heidgen, 43, served 19 years behind bars for the July 2, 2005 crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway that killed young Katie Flynn, along with limo driver Stanley Rabinowitz, after her aunt’s wedding on Long Island.
He had driven his pickup truck the wrong way for nearly three miles before slamming head on into the limo as it returned from a beach-front wedding in Bayville, Newsday reports.
An ensuing trial found Heidgen had downed more than a dozen alcoholic beverages before getting behind the wheel, and his blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit when he crashed. He was convicted on second-degree murder charges.
But on Wednesday, Heidgen was released from prison after being granted parole in August – much to the dismay of his victim’s families.
Martin Heidgen, 43, was released from prison on Wednesday after serving 19 years behind bars on second-degree murder charges for the July 2, 2005 crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway
The wrong-way, drunk driving crash killed seven-year-old Katie Flynn and limo driver Stanley Rabinowitz
Flynn’s parents, Neil and Jennifer Flynn, told Newsday that the state parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has a ‘profound impact’ on the family.
‘We ask that the public may know our sadness and feel our pain,’ Jennifer said.
‘Katie was murdered as a seven-year-old girl; where her murderer lives, imprisoned or paroled, makes no difference in our lives.
‘We realize that our news cycle is over, but it is our hope that your readers think of us and that we influence their choices,’ she said.
Joyce Rabinowitz-Schuster, the limo driver’s widow, meanwhile, expressed outrage over the parole board’s decision.
‘How could the parole board not listen to what the district attorney said – don’t release him – and all the families?’ she asked, incredulously. ‘The Flynns lost their daughter, my sons lost their father.’
The still-grieving widow also told the New York Post: ‘This liberalism is a bullet into the back of the families who suffer the loss of their loved ones.
He had driven his pickup truck the wrong way for nearly three miles before slamming head on into the limo as it returned from a beach-front wedding in Bayville
‘There is no accountability in New York State anymore. Murder should be 25 years minimum,’ she argued.
‘Crime is rising in New York State because of these dismissive attitudes and it must stop.
‘My family and the Flynns and the Tangney families [Katie’s maternal grandparents] realize this crime every day and the hundreds of other friends and family members of the victims involved in this murder.
‘Shame on the parole board, who released a murderer.’
Rabinowitz-Schuster’s eldest son, Keith Rabinowitz, agreed.
‘I don’t think it’s enough time,’ he said. ‘It’s not fair.
‘He should have never gotten out. It should have been two life sentences,’ Keith argued.
Flynn’s parents, Jennifer and Neil, said the state parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has a ‘profound impact’ on the family
Heidgen, who was 24 at the time of the crash, was convicted of two counts of murder, three counts of first-degree assault and tampering with physical evidence in October 2006.
He was then sentenced to 19 years to life behind bars, and tried to appeal the verdict, but New York’s highest court rejected it – saying the horrific nature of the case showed he formed the necessary state of mind to be convicted of murder by ‘depraved indifference’ to human life.
Nassau County District Attorney – whose office prosecuted Heidgen under a prior DA – also called the defendant a ‘risk to society.’
‘I strongly oppose Martin Heidgen’s release after only serving the minimum sentence for his crime and am disappointed in the Parole Board’s decision,’ she said in a statement to Newsday, adding that the convict demonstrated a ‘lack of sincerity and remorse’ over the fatal crash.
‘Despite causing this carnage and heartbreak, Heidgen still suggested he would continue to drink after his release, exposing a flawed character and complete disregard for the lives he tore apart,’ she said.
‘He has not demonstrated true accountability for his actions and remains a risk to society.’
Heidgen’s attorney, however, disputed those claims.
‘Both Marty and his family are grateful to the parole board [for] recognizing that it is appropriate for Marty to be released on parole,’ lawyer Stephen LaMagna said.
‘He is and remains forever remorseful for all of the pain he has caused to so many and continues to pray for them and their families,’ he said.