The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that killed Liverpool High School senior and injured a Bridgeport woman was charged this morning with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated. In the company of her lawyer, Chelsea Kuss, 18, turned herself in to state police this morning and was arraigned in Sullivan Town Court. She...
The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that killed Liverpool High School senior and injured a Bridgeport woman was charged this morning with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.
In the company of her lawyer, Chelsea Kuss, 18, turned herself in to state police this morning and was arraigned in Sullivan Town Court. She pleaded innocent to the charges and was remanded to Madison County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail or $15,000 bond.
Kuss is accused of being the driver in the 2:55 p.m. crash May 24 on Route 31 in Sullivan that killed Victoria Deverso, 17. Even thought the vehicle belonged to Deverso, Kuss was driving, Gabor said. He did not know why Kuss was driving.
"We may never know," Gabor said.
Blood tests revealed Kuss had a blood-alcohol content of 0.13 percent at the time of the crash, Madison County District Attorney William Gabor said at a news conference this afternoon at the state police's Troop D headquarters in Oneida.
There were no other intoxicants in Kuss' blood, Gabor said. Gabor declined to say whether there was any alcohol in Deverso's blood.
The most serious charge she is facing, vehicular homicide, is a Class B felony, Gabor said. If convicted of that charge, Kuss could be sentenced to 8 1/3 ti 25 years in state prison, Gabor said.
Because Kuss wasa 17 at the time of the crash, she could be eligible for discretionary youthful offender status, Gabor said. His office would oppose any youthful adjudication of the case, he said.
Also injured in the crash was Peggy Blume, 37, of Bridgeport, who suffered two broken legs, two broken arms and a head injury.
Gabor said Blume has had several surgeries and expects to have several more. She has an estimated two-year recovery time to her injuries and her house is being remodeled to accommodate her injuries, he said.
State police said they had a lack of cooperation from many of the young people who were in contact with the two girls at Sylvan Beach during the day.
The Troop D accident reconstruction team estimated the speed of the vehicle at 84 mph after she lost control on the 55-mph road. Besides the vehicular homicide and assault charges, both felonies, and driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, Kuss was also charged with reckless driving.