Arrest made in hit-run crash that killed mother of 5, Suffolk police say

A woman has been charged with being the hit-and-run driver who caused a crash that killed a mother of five children — an arrest made after an off-duty county police sergeant noticed a damaged car on a flatbed truck, the acting Suffolk chief of detectives said Thursday.

Madeline Henriquez, 22, of Brentwood, was charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving a fatality, and tampering with physical evidence, the department said Thursday in a news release.

She was released Thursday following arraignment in which bail was set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond or $250,000 partially secured bond. Her attorney could not be reached.

On May 23, Henriquez was driving a 2012 Hyundai sedan that struck another vehicle, which then hit the mother, according to the acting chief of detectives, Deputy Chief John Rowan.

The crash killed 28-year-old Cherokee Fletcher, who was standing on the sidewalk when the eastbound sedan on Motor Parkway in Hauppauge struck another vehicle at the Moreland Road intersection around 10:15 p.m. The driver of that second vehicle left the road and hit Fletcher, police said at the time.

The next day, the sergeant, who had seen crash coverage in the news, spotted a vehicle, on a stopped flatbed, showing damage consistent with a pedestrian crash.

The sergeant, who wasn’t publicly identified, noted the vehicle’s license plate and make, then contacted detectives on the Major Case Unit, which was handling the crash investigation, Rowan said. Rowan did not say where the flatbed was when spotted.

By the time detectives got to the scene, the flatbed was gone. The detectives canvassed the area and obtained glass evidence and video evidence. Through the video evidence, they were able to identify the tow truck, then contacted the tow truck operator, who told them where he had brought the car.

“Subsequent to that, they received a phone call from an attorney who was representing the driver of the vehicle,” Rowan said.

Detectives also recovered the vehicle from a yard used for auto repairs. The basis for the tampering charge relates to removing the vehicle, taking it to the yard for repairs and trying to get the vehicle fixed, Rowan said.