An Amityville woman surrendered to police Friday after she was indicted last week for hitting and killing two bicyclists in Hicksville last year, Nassau County prosecutors said.
Elizabeth Stenson pleaded not guilty Friday at Nassau County court to charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
“An adult father and daughter were riding bicycles in the middle of the afternoon when they were allegedly targeted for no reason by this homicidal driver,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said.
Prosecutors said the 58-year-old woman was driving a Ford Explorer southbound on New South Road when she crossed over the yellow lines in the street and began driving the wrong way on the street for blocks, striking two bicyclists at 2:45 p.m. on June 29, 2016.
One of the bicyclists, 43-year old Cari Widmyer of California, who was in town visiting her family, was hit head-on, lodged under the SUV, dragged several hundred feet down the road and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Her 73-year old father, Dennis Widmyer, was struck by the struck and knocked off his bicycle but survived.
Stenson then crashed her truck into another vehicle that was trying to avoid a head-on collision before she crashed into a house at the corner of Meadow Lane, injuring her passenger, 65-year-old Duane Nuccio, who died days later from injuries suffered in the crash, according to investigators.
Judge Jerald Carter ordered she be held without bail. She is due back in court May 23. She faces up to 25 years to life in prison, if convicted.
