By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The woman accused of driving drunk on the Henry Hudson Parkway and causing an accident that led to the death of an 11-year-old Chelsea girl made her first court appearance on Monday.
Carmen Huertas, 31, wept as she sat before a Manhattan Supreme Court judge in a gray jumpsuit. She faces charges of drunk driving, assault and manslaughter. The manslaughter charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
Prosecutors claim the Bronx mother of three loaded a Mercury Sable station wagon with seven children on Oct. 10 and drove 70 mph after drinking cognac at a party in Chelsea.
Huertes lost control of the vehicle before it flipped and ejected several of the girls, killing 11-year-old Leandra Rosado.
Rosado's death led to the passing of "Leandra's Law," a new state drunk driving statute passed in November that makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child 15 years old and younger in the car.
The crying defendant turned her head to blow kisses to her family in the gallery as the judges and lawyers conferenced Tuesday.
Huertas' daughter, Brittney, and two other girls who survived the accident were there supporting her. Her family members, including cousin Laura Alvarez, 43, sobbed from the gallery during the brief court proceeding.
"You saw how those girls were crying," Alvarez said. "They miss her so much. They love her to death."
Leandra's father, Lenny Rosado, said he feels no sympathy for the woman accused of killing his daughter. He was irked by the show of support for Huertas by two of the girls who were with Leandra in the last minutes of her life.
"It's a slap in the face," Rosado said. "You've got to question the mentality of the parents."
Leandra Rosado was the only passenger killed, but several other children were seriously injured.
Huertes allegedly taunted the children the night of the crash by "asking them if they thought they would make it home without crashing," according to court documents.
Melody Sanchez, whose 11-year-old daughter Kayla was seriously hurt in the crash, had no sympathy for Huertas in court Tuesday.
"I'm just looking for [Huertas] to do her time," Sanchez said. "For Leandra and for my daughter."
Huertas has been under suicide watch in the psychiatric ward at Elmhurst Hospital after trying to take her own life, said her lawyer, Steven Rubin.
"She's an emotional wreck," Rubin said. "She knows that a child died in her car."
In Monday's brief appearance, Rubin filed requests to have grand jury minutes reviewed and statements by Huertas suppressed. Prosecutors submitted accident reports and other evidence.
The case has been adjourned until Jan. 12.
