Woman Charged In Hauppauge Hit-And-Run Death Of LI Mother: Police

BRENTWOOD, NY — A woman accused of killing a Commack mother in a hit-and-run crash on May 23 in Hauppauge was arrested on Thursday, police said.

Madeline Henriquez, 22, of Brentwood, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident involving a fatality, and tampering with physical evidence. She is slated to be arraigned on Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip.

On May 23, a car, believed to be a sedan, was traveling eastbound on Motor Parkway when it collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Moreland Road, police said. The sedan, driven by Henriquez, left the road and hit Cherokee Fletcher, 28, of Commack, who was standing on the sidewalk around 10:15 p.m., police said. Henriquez then drove away eastbound on Motor Parkway, police said.

Fletcher was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.

Fletcher is a fiancée and mother of five, Caroline Flynn, a News 12 Long Island reporter, wrote on Facebook. Fletcher was walking to a nearby ATM to get money for her child's field trip when she was killed, according to Flynn.

A GoFundMe was launched by Fletcher's mother-in-law. It has raised nearly $14,000 since May 24.

"My son has five children and my daughter-in-law live in a family shelter but they are the most loving tightknit family I have ever seen despite their situation," Elba Ortiz, Fletcher's mother-in-law, wrote. "...My son is devastated because now he is a widower with five small children living in a shelter and has no way of paying for a funeral to put his fiancée to rest. Please help me in raising some funds to give her a decent burial."