Mom gets prison in 'Leandra's Law' DWI crash

Carmen Huertas cries during an appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court, where she is being tried on charges of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in the Oct. 11, 2009, automobile accident that claimed the life of Leandra Rosado, 11, and injured several other girls riding in her car. (Dec. 1, 2009) Credit: AP
A mother will spend four to 12 years in prison for drunkenly driving a station wagon full of children into a Manhattan highway wreck, killing one of them.
Carmen Huertas tearfully apologized as she was sentenced Friday. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August.
The crash last October on the Henry Hudson Parkway killed 11-year-old Leandra Rosado. The children were on their way to a slumber party.
The dead girl’s father, Lenny Rosado, told the court he keeps wondering if Leandra cried out for him as the car went airborne.
The tragedy prompted what is known as Leandra’s Law. It makes drunken driving a felony if a child is in the car.
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