NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Long Island mom was sentenced to prison on Friday for hitting a teenager, who she thought was bullying her son, with her car and then leaving the scene, according to prosecutors.
Jennifer Nelson, 35, of Shirley, was found guilty of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting. She was also indicted and arraigned for attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment last year where she was released on her own recognizance. She was acquitted of the top charge of attempted murder on Friday.
According to court documents, Nelson "mowed down a teenager" with her Honda car after arguing with him and other teenagers at the parking lot of a bagel store located near William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach on Oct. 7, 2022.
Nelson initially confronted the group of teenagers, believing they were bullying her son. She approached them armed with a knife and a small bat, as detailed in the indictment. The victim walked away, crossing the street to Manhattan Bagel.
Nelson then hit the victim with her car and he fell to the ground. Nelson then drove over him, reversed her car and drove over the victim again. She then fled the scene.
"This is a horrible turn of events that no child should ever have to endure by the hands of an adult," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. "Witnesses described how this defendant left a 15-year-old boy crawling away from her vehicle as she smirked and left the scene without remorse. Thoughtless and criminally dangerousness will not be tolerated in Suffolk County."
The attempt was to avenge her son which she believed the victim had bullied and robbed, according to the prosecutor's statement on Feb. 6, 2023.
"This defendant — an adult — allegedly thought she could take the law into her own hands to kill a 15-year-old in the process," Tierney said in the statement from February.
To cover up her crime and evade the police, Nelson traded in her car for a newer model.
The victim had serious physical injuries including fractures of the pelvis, six fractured ribs, a punctured lung and multiple bruises.
Nelson was sentenced to one and a third to four years in prison for leaving the scene of an incident without reporting.
