Bay Shore mom pleads guilty to DWI crash

A young mother pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that she drove drunk and crashed into a tree in Syosset, critically injuring her 3-year-old daughter, who was not in a child car seat as required by law, prosecutors said.

Her daughter Yhoalibeth's neck was broken and her spine was severed. She now is a quadriplegic and breathes with the help of a respirator.

Samantha Alfaro, 19, of Bay Shore, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault and aggravated drunken driving, both under Leandra's Law, and endangering the welfare of a child. Nassau County Judge David Sullivan committed to a 3- to 9-year prison term for Alfaro when she is sentenced Feb. 28.

Prosecutors said Alfaro, of 39 Kansas Ave., left her cousin's house in East Meadow and was driving a 1998 Mazda north on South Oyster Bay Road when she passed out at the wheel of the car, which veered into the southbound lanes and smashed into a tree.

A blood test showed her blood-alcohol content was 0.11 percent, police said. The state limit is 0.08 percent.

Alfaro's daughter was in the backseat, restrained by a seat belt, police said. New York State law requires children under the age of 4 to ride in approved safety seats. A child's car seat was found in the trunk of Alfaro's car, according to prosecutors.

Leandra's Law makes it an automatic felony to drive drunk with a child under the age of 16 in the car and imposes tough penalties.

"I hope this will be a lesson for anyone who reads about this case," said Alfaro's lawyer, Dennis Lemke, of Mineola. "Samantha would have preferred to lose her own life to have spared her daughter."