Rachel Lodice was charged by a grand jury on Tuesday with several crimes, including murder, in connection with a crash in Massapequa in April that killed a 64-year-old woman.
Lodice, who lives in Georgia, said he wasn’t guilty. The 21-year-old is accused of going too fast on weed and running a red light before hitting Cynthia Mitchell, 64, who was on her way to Hobby Lobby at the time. It was almost her birthday. The accident happened where Sunrise Highway and Hicksville Road meet.
Based on the event data recorder, the prosecutors said Lodice was going about 75 mph just seconds before the crash. The prosecutor called the way she drove a “alleged trail of terror.” She is said to have driven on the wrong side of the road, through red lights, and around medians before the accident. The police say Lodice stole a Town of Oyster Bay Public Safety car and ran away after the accident.
Ted Mitchell said that his wife was “full of life” and that “everyone loved her.” Someone in Mitchell’s car, who was a good friend of Mitchell’s, got hurt very badly. The mother of the hitchhiker says her daughter is “going through a lot.”
Lodice could spend up to 22 years in prison if he is found guilty. This was a wonder that didn’t hurt more people, said Anne Donnelly, the district attorney.
