A Georgia woman accused of causing a devastating crash on Sunrise Highway in Massapequa, which left a 64-year-old church clerk dead, has pleaded not guilty to vehicular and second-degree manslaughter charges.
Rachel Lodice during her arraignment on Tuesday also entered a not guilty plea for a series of additional felony counts, including leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, grand larceny and second-degree assault in addition to several misdemeanor charges, among them driving under the influence of drugs, reckless driving and third-degree assault.
She was ordered held on $500,000 bond, with her next court date scheduled for June 8, NBC New York reported. .
Lodice was visiting family on Long Island when the deadly incident occurred on April 23. Cynthia Mitchell, a clerk with South Hempstead Baptist Church in charge of its band and singers, was killed in the crash, according to Newsday.
“The defendant was swerving in and out of traffic,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “She was screaming down Hicksville Road into oncoming traffic.”
Prosecutors said Lodice blew through a red light, t-boning Mitchell’s 2022 Nissan Altima. Shortly after officers arrived on the scene, she made off in a Town of Oyster Bay Public Safety car, traveling several miles before she reached the end of a dead-end road.
Authorities, in turn, were able to track down her vehicle using GPS, and then shut her engine down using a remote “kill switch.”
“Once the car was disabled, officers took the defendant into custody,” Donnelly said. “She was sitting in the car, wearing the town official’s jacket and eating a sandwich from his cooler.”
Both Mitchell and her friend, Melinda Ward, were rushed to Nassau University Medical Center in wake of the crash. They were headed to the Hobby Lobby store in Massapequa when they were hit, police said.
Mitchell later died from her injuries while Ward suffered several broken ribs.
Nassau Assistant District Attorney Tara DePalo, slammed Lodice for “using Hicksville Road as her personal raceway,” speeding in her 2023 Kia Rio down the roadway, which has a 30 mph speed limit.
According to the event data recorder from Lodice’s vehicle, the she was allegedly driving approximately 75 miles per hour five seconds before the crash. A blood test also determined she had marijuana in her system at the time.
