Woman Who Fatally Mowed Down Anti-Gang Activist With SUV Sentenced to 9 Months Evelyn Rodríguez, mother of Kayla Cuevas, one of the teenagers who was allegedly killed by members of the MS-13 gang was fatally run down in 2018 as she was setting up a memorial for her daughter.
Published March 4, 2021 •
Updated on March 4, 2021 at 7:06 pm
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The driver who fatally ran over the anti-gang activist, Evelyn Rodríguez, mother of Kayla Cuevas, one of the teenagers who was allegedly killed by members of the MS-13 gang, was sentenced to nine months in jail Thursday.
Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini announced that Patchogue s Annmarie Drago, 60, was sentenced for killing 50-year-old Rodriguez of Brentwood in 2018.
Drago s attorney, Stephen Kunken, said he is disappointed in the judge s decision. I think the pressure from the community for some type of retribution was very strong, he said.
Kunken said he had prepared Drago for the possibility that she may serve time in prison. I told her to expect the worst with regard to this, so she was ready for it, he said.
Due to prison COVID restrictions, Drago will spend the first 15 days of her sentence in 23-hour isolation in her cell.
Kunken said she had expressed remorse and sorrow to him since the beginning, though he advised her not to do that publicly. He said his client is a good mother and a good nurse who did not act recklessly and did not mean to hurt anyone.
New York woman sentenced for death of anti-gang activist
March 4, 2021
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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) A Suffolk County judge has sentenced a New York woman to nine months in jail following her criminally negligent homicide conviction last year for the 2018 death of Evelyn Rodriguez.
Jurors also convicted Annmarie Drago of misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and petit larceny last year, Newsday reported.
Jurors found that Drago caused Rodriguez’s death when she drove over the pedestrian following a dispute over a memorial that was set up in front of Drago’s mother’s home on September 14, 2018.
Rodriguez arranged a memorial ahead of a vigil to mark the two-year anniversary of the discovery of her daughter’s remains on the property.
Drago s attorney, Stephen Kunken, said he is disappointed in the judge s decision. I think the pressure from the community for some type of retribution was very strong, he said.
Kunken said he had prepared Drago for the possibility that she may serve time in prison. I told her to expect the worst with regard to this, so she was ready for it, he said.
Due to prison COVID restrictions, Drago will spend the first 15 days of her sentence in 23-hour isolation in her cell.
Kunken said she had expressed remorse and sorrow to him since the beginning, though he advised her not to do that publicly. He said his client is a good mother and a good nurse who did not act recklessly and did not mean to hurt anyone.