OAN Staff Abril Elfi
3:47 PM – Sunday, September 29, 2024
The drunk driver who decapitated 7-year-old Katie Flynn and her chauffeur has been released from prison.
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The State Department of Correction and Community Supervision confirmed on Sunday that Martin Heidgen, 43, who spent 19 years in prison for second-degree murder was granted parole and left prison on Wednesday.
Joyce Rabinowitz-Schuster, the driver’s widow, said in an email to The New York Post that the system has failed her and Flynn’s family.
“This liberalism is a bullet into the back of the families who suffer the loss of their loved ones,” Rabinowitz-Schuster said.
“There is no accountability in New York State anymore. Murder should be 25 years minimum. Crime is rising in NYS because of these dismissive attitudes and it must stop,” she wrote.
“My family and the Flynns and Tangney families [Katie’s maternal grandparents] realize this crime every day and the hundreds of other friends and family members of the victims involved in this murder,” Rabinowitz Schuster said. “Shame on the parole board who released a murderer.”
Heidgen, who was 24-years-old at the time of the tragic collision, struck the limo head-on as it was returning from a wedding in Bayville. He had reportedly been driving his pickup truck the wrong way for almost three miles.
According to authorities, when he crashed, his blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit.
Katie, her 5-year-old sister Grace, and their parents, Neil and Jennifer Flynn, along with Jennifer’s parents, Denise and Chris Tangney were all in the limousine.
Katie’s parents spoke with Newsday, stating that the parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has had a “profound impact” on the family.
“We asked that the public may know our sadness and feel our pain,” Jennifer Flynn told the outlet. “Katie was murdered as a 7-year-old girl; where her murderer lives, imprisoned or paroled, makes no difference in our lives.
“We realize that our news cycle is over, but it is our hope that your readers think of us and that we influence their choices.”
According to state officials, Heidgen was found guilty on two counts of murder, three counts of first-degree assault, and one count of tampering with physical evidence. As a result, he was sentenced to 19 years to life.
After being locked up, the guilty man attempted to challenge the ruling, but he was shot.
According to a spokesman for the state, a parole board granted Heidgen conditional release August 13th and he was cut loose Wednesday.
Stephen LaMagna, Heidgen’s lawyer, told Newsday that his client was “forever remorseful” for what his actions caused.
“Both Marty and his family are grateful to the parole board for recognizing that it is appropriate for Marty to be released on parole and allow him to reenter society and become a productive and constructive member of our community,” LaMagna told the outlet. “He is and remains forever remorseful for all of the pain he has caused to so many and continues to pray for them and their families.”
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