Former NYPD cop pleads guilty in fatal car crash
A city cop who fatally struck a Brooklyn preacher’s daughter in a drunk-driving stupor pleaded guilty Wednesday to vehicular manslaughter, later reaching out his hand in court to ask her family for forgiveness.
Andrew Kelly, 32, was off-duty when his SUV killed Vionique Valnord-Kassime on Sept. 27, 2009, as she tried to hail a cab after a wedding reception in Brooklyn.
“He apologized to me and I accepted his apology,” the victim’s father, the Rev. Varius Valnord Valnord, said afterwards.
“It was more generous than I could have imagined," Kelly told his lawyer, Arthur Aidala, according to the Daily News.
Kelly, a seven-year veteran who resigned from the NYPD on Friday, took a plea deal that requires he serve 90 days in jail, five years in probation and lose his license for a year.
The family of Valnord-Kassime is still pursuing a civil suit against the former cop and the city, claiming that police officers gave Kelly time to sober up before giving him a blood-alcohol test.

Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.

Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.



