A 3-year-old Long Island girl is in critical condition with brain damageand her 29-year-old mother is due in court to face charges that she was drunk and high when she crashed her car into a pickup truck with the child in the back seat.
Johnnaisa Harvey underwent emergency surgery at Stony Brook University Medical Center and hasn't regained consciousness, authorities said. Her mother, Ebony Herrera, was distraught and apologetic at her arraignment Sunday. Speaking on camera, she said she was a good mother and never would've driven if she knew she would fall asleep. Herrera was charged with child endangerment and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The mother was driving in a 1994 Chrysler Concord on Eastport Manor Road in Manorville at around 2 a.m. Saturday when she crossed into the oncoming lane and collided with a 2002 Toyota pickup. Herrera may have been disoriented from pot and liquor, Det. Sgt. John Best of Suffolk's Seventh Detectives Squad told Newsday. The pickup was driven by 39-year-old Justin Topping, who was taken to the hospital, treated and released.
Investigators found Johnnaisa in the back seat. There was a child seat in the car but cops weren't sure if it had been properly fastened.
