By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
A Bronx mom accused of killing an 11-year-old girl while speeding and driving drunk on the Henry Hudson Parkway was charged with manslaughter on Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Carmen Huertas taunted the eight children in the slumber party carpool, "asking them to raise their hands if they thought they would make it home without crashing," according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors said the 31-year-old mother was drinking cognac at a party in Manhattan on Oct. 10, although she was responsible for driving the children between the Bronx and Chelsea.
After midnight "she loaded the eight children into her station wagon" and sped uptown, despite a warning from her son's father, who knew she was drunk and asked her not to drive, prosecutors said.
Her 14-month-old son's father confronted her as she was about to drive. When she failed to comply he took the baby out of the car just before she departed with the other children, according to prosecutors.
Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old friend of Huertas' daughter, was in the back of the Mercury Sable, where there were no seat belts, prosecutors said. Rosado was the only passenger killed. Another remains in critical condition.
Police said Huertas was driving at almost 70 miles an hour, 20 miles per hour more than the posted speed limit. She lost control of the vehicle at 90th Street on the Henry Hudson Parkway and after swerving, the vehicle flipped and landed into trees.
She will be arraigned in mid-November. She could face more than 60 years in prison if convicted.
