Family of seven-year-old flower girl decapitated alongside chauffeur after wedding in crash with wrong-way drunk driver suffer new blow

The family of a seven-year-old flower girl who was beheaded along with a driver in an accident involving a drunk driver who was driving the wrong way has been dealt a fresh blow as the driver was released on parole.

Martin Heidgen, 43, served 19 years behind bars for the July 2, 2005, crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway that killed young Katie Flynn, along with limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz, after her aunt’s wedding on Long Island.

He had driven his pickup nearly three miles the wrong way before crashing head-on into the limousine as it returned from a beach wedding in Bayville. Newsday reports.

A subsequent trial found that Heidgen had drunk more than a dozen alcoholic drinks before getting behind the wheel, and that his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he crashed. He was convicted of second-degree murder.

But on Wednesday, Heidgen was released from prison after being granted parole in August – much to the dismay of his victim’s families.

The drunk driving crash killed seven-year-old Katie Flynn and limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz

Flynn’s parents, Neil and Jennifer Flynn, told Newsday that the state parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has a “profound impact” on the family.

“We ask that the public may know our grief and feel our pain,” Jennifer said.

“Katie was murdered as a seven-year-old girl; where her killer lives, imprisoned or released on parole, makes no difference to our lives.

“We realize our news cycle is over, but we hope your readers think of us and that we influence their choices,” she said.

Meanwhile, Joyce Rabinowitz-Schuster, the limousine driver’s widow, expressed her outrage at the parole board’s decision.

“How could the parole board not listen to what the prosecutor said – don’t release him – and to all the families?” she asked incredulously. “The Flynns lost their daughter, my sons lost their father.”

The still grieving widow too told the New York Post: ‘This liberalism is a bullet in the back of the families who suffer from the loss of their loved ones.

He had driven his pickup nearly three miles the wrong way before crashing head-on into the limousine as it returned from a beach wedding in Bayville.

“There is no more accountability in New York State. Murder should last at least 25 years,” she argued.

“Crime is increasing in New York State because of this dismissive attitude and it has to stop.

“My family and the Flynns and Tangney families [Katie’s maternal grandparents] realize this crime every day and the hundreds of other friends and family members of the victims involved in this murder.

‘Shame on the parole board for setting a murderer free.’

Rabinowitz-Schuster’s eldest son, Keith Rabinowitz, agreed.

“I don’t think it’s enough time,” he said. ‘It’s not fair.

‘He should never have come out. It should have been two life sentences,” Keith argued.

Flynn’s parents, Jennifer and Neil, said the state parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has a “profound impact” on the family.

Heidgen, who was 24 at the time of the crash, was convicted in October 2006 of two counts of murder, three counts of first-degree assault and tampering with physical evidence.

He was subsequently sentenced to 19 years to life behind bars and tried to appeal the sentence, but New York’s highest court threw it out – saying the gruesome nature of the case showed he had the necessary state of mind to be convicted to be charged with murder by ‘depraved people’. indifference towards human life.

The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office — whose office prosecuted Heidgen under a previous prosecutor — also called the suspect a “risk to society.”

“I strongly oppose the release of Martin Heidgen after he served only the minimum sentence for his crime and am disappointed in the Parole Board’s decision,” she said in a statement to Newsday, adding that the convict demonstrated a ‘lack of sincerity and remorse’ over the fatal murder. crash.

“Despite causing this carnage and heartbreak, Heidgen still suggested he would continue drinking after his release, exposing a flawed character and a complete disregard for the lives he tore apart,” she said.

“He has shown no real responsibility for his actions and remains a risk to society.”

However, Heidgen’s lawyer disputed these claims.

“Both Marty and his family are grateful to the parole board [for] He recognizes that it is appropriate for Marty to be released on parole,” said attorney Stephen LaMagna.

“He is and remains forever remorseful for all the pain he has caused so many and continues to pray for them and their families,” he said.