Jury selection ongoing in trial of Jessica Beauvais, accused in highway death of NYPD's Anastasios Tsakos
Jessica Beauvais with her attorney, Jorge Santos, in Queens County Criminal Court. Beauvais is charged in the killing of NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos. Credit: Ed Quinn
Jury selection began Thursday in the case of a Hempstead woman charged with killing NYPD Det. Anastasios Tsakos, the highway officer from Long Island who was fatally struck as he manned a roadblock on the Long Island Expressway in 2021.
Scores of potential jurors were brought into State Supreme Court in Queens to be vetted for possible service in the trial of Jessica Beauvais, charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving. Judge Michael Aloise has said he wanted the trial to begin trial October 17.
An initial panel of 18 potential jurors was seated and questioned, first by Aloise and then by Queens Assistant District Attorney Gregory Lasak Jr. and defense attorney Jorge Santos. By the end of the day, five jurors had been selected with another round of jury selection scheduled for Friday, court officials said.
The crash that took Tsakos’ life was an “unspeakable tragedy,” Santos acknowledged as he questioned potential jurors, while asking them to promise to be fair and objective.
Beauvais, 34, has been held in jail since she was arrested early in the morning of April 27, 2021, after she allegedly drove drunk, fatally hitting Tsakos, 43, on the Long Island Expressway while he was attempting to divert traffic due to an earlier crash further east.
According to police, Beauvais was intoxicated as she sped past the roadblock and struck Tsakos, a married father of two from East Northport, who was stationed in the eastbound lanes of the LIE by Exit 26. The crash sent him catapulting through the air and he suffered multiple fatal injuries.
NYPD Highway Patrol Officer Anastasios Tsakos, promoted posthumously to detective, who was killed April 27, 2021. Credit: NYPD/NYPD
The impact of the crash was so severe that Tsakos’s police memo book and other property were found inside Beauvais’ wrecked car after officers stopped her on the expressway service road and arrested her, police said. Police body camera videos, which are expected to be introduced as evidence at trial, showed a seemingly incoherent and combative Beauvais after she had been handcuffed, prosecutors said.
Later while she was in police custody, Beauvais stated, “Sorry, did I hit someone? I didn’t mean to hit nobody,” court records showed.
Beauvais also told cops that “I had been drinking tonight” after she made a podcast in Brooklyn, records showed.
“Why did my first accident have to be a cop?” Beauvais said, court records stated.
Beauvais’ post-arrest statements to police are expected to be introduced into evidence, as well as a report on the autopsy of Tsakos, who was promoted to the rank of detective posthumously. The prosecution indicated autopsy photos were expected to be introduced into evidence.
The Queens District Attorney's Office had offered Beauvais a plea bargain that would have sent her to prison for about 16 years, a deal she declined. If convicted at trial, she would be eligible for a sentence of up to 20 years.
When the trial begins next week, a delegation of cops and Police Benevolent Association officials are expected to pack the courtroom. Tsakos’ wife, Irene, is also expected.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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