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    Devastated family outraged after drunk driver who decapitated LI flower girl Katie Flynn released from prison

    By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon,

    13 hours ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=03gYyM_0vo7Q5pE00

    The drunken driver who decapitated 7-year-old flower girl Katie Flynn and also killed her family’s hired chauffeur after a Long Island wedding has been released from prison — sparking outrage from the victims’ kin.

    Martin Heidgen, 43, who served 19 years behind bars for second-degree murder in the July 2, 2005, wrong-way horror on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Freeport, walked out of prison Wednesday after being granted parole, the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision confirmed Sunday.

    For the families of little Katie and slain limo driver Stanley Rabinowitz, the system failed.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=36l4WZ_0vo7Q5pE00
    Martin Heidgen’s blood-alcohol content was over three times the legal limit when he killedKatie Flynn and Stanley Rabinowitz in 2005. AP
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1kFtV9_0vo7Q5pE00
    Flynn had been a flower girl at her aunt’s wedding in Bayville in 2005 when she was killed by Heidgen 19 years ago. James Messerschmidt

    “This liberalism is a bullet into the back of the families who suffer the loss of their loved ones,” Joyce Rabinowitz-Schuster. the driver’s widow, said in an email to The Post.

    LI motorist, 30, killed in fiery smash-up with drunk driver: cops

    “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 at the time of the fatal wreck, had driven his pickup truck the wrong way for nearly 3 miles when he slammed head-on into the limo as it returned from an idyllic beach-front family wedding in Bayville.

    His blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit when he crashed, authorities said.

    In the limousine were Katie, her little sister, Grace, 5, their parents, Neil and Jennifer Flynn, and Jennifer’s parents, Denise and Chris Tangney, a retired Nassau County cop.

    Utah drunk driver who killed mother and son blamed the victims, phone calls with father reveal

    The wedding was for Jennifer’s sister.

    In a statement to Newsday, which first reported Heidgen ‘s release, Katie’s parents said the parole board’s decision to release their young daughter’s killer has had a “profound impact” on the family.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1eu2Eo_0vo7Q5pE00
    The crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway on Long Island killed the family’s wedding limo driver, as well. Seth Gottfried
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4c0mPc_0vo7Q5pE00
    Heidgen, then 24, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years to life behind bars. New York Post

    “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.”

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    Heidgen was sentenced to 19 years to life after being convicted on two counts of murder, three counts of first-degree assault and tampering with physical evidence, state officials said.

    The convict tried to appeal the verdict after being imprisoned but was shot down.

    A spokesman for the state DOCCS said Sunday that a parole board granted Heidgen conditional release Aug. 13 and that he was cut loose Wednesday.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3uHicg_0vo7Q5pE00
    Stanley Rabinowitz was driving the family’s rented limo when he was killed along with the 7-year-old. Obtained by NY Post

    The terms of his release include remaining in the state unless given permission to leave.

    Heidgen’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post but in a statement to Newsday said that his client remained haunted by the tragedy.

    “Both Marty and his family are grateful to the parole board of 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,” the lawyer, Stephen 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,” LaMagna said in the statement.

    For the latest metro stories, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/metro/

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    Comments / 234
    Add a Comment
    John Grant
    20m ago
    Yo I remember this .. This Accident was the Last Straw for Drunk Driving in L.I ..Fricking D.A went on a Rampage Locking up All DWI's Driver's after this .. The EMT report made the D.A Cry & she showed Drunk Driver's NO MERCY this the only time I wasn't mad at the Police/ Law Enforcement ... He shouldn't be Freed this Soon it was Barely 8 years
    bewildered in NY
    3h ago
    NYS is so fucked up. I see killers, rapist, and drug dealers set free every day. This state will never change. This state has too much love for their criminals and not a care in the world for the victims and the families.
    View all comments
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