Southern State Parkway crash: Mother under the influence kills 9-year-old son in wrong-way crash in New York

BAY SHORE, Long Island — A 9-year-old boy has died after police say his mother was driving under the influence and crashed in a head-on collision on Long Island.

It happened around 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the eastbound lanes of the Southern State Parkway near exit 42.

Police say the wrong-way driver was fleeing an attempted traffic stop by a Suffolk County sheriff’s deputy.

The deputy spotted the wrong-way vehicle traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes and attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the driver did not stop.

Concerned about the safety of driving into oncoming traffic, the deputy ceased attempts to stop the vehicle and moved into the westbound lanes to follow the driver into the proper flow of traffic.

As he managed to cross into the eastbound lanes, he hit a four-car crash at Exit 42.

The deputy found the 9-year-old victim in the back of the vehicle. First responders performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator to try to save the child’s life.

The child’s mother, a Centerport resident, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip with non-life threatening injuries.

Investigators believe she had been driving the wrong way for some time, possibly even on the Sunrise Freeway, before the crash.

After the accident, he was given field sobriety tests. Taxes are expected.

The occupants of the other three vehicles involved in the crash were transported to South Side Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital. All of their injuries appear to be non-life threatening.

The force of the impact separated the engine from the wrong-way vehicle and threw it into oncoming traffic.

The Suffolk County District Attorney and the state Attorney General’s Office responded and will investigate the crash.