Driver, 19, Charged in death of Woodside mom

The 19-year old Long Island motorist who slammed into a livery van on Queens Boulevard in the early hours of Sunday, April 22, killing a young Woodside mother, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and drunk driving.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Qadir A. Ahmad, of Lake Grove, Long Island, “was allegedly observed to have alcohol on his breath, watery eyes and slurred speech.”
The charges against Ahmad state that he admitted to consuming “some alcohol much earlier but claimed he was not drunk.”
Published reports say that sometime after the crash Ahmad was tested at the 108th Precinct at which time his blood alcohol level was .089 percent, and police say that percentage was likely higher when the crash occurred.
While Ahmad remains in custody, the family of Paula Serrano, 28 who was cradling her 3-week-old infant son in her arms when she was ejected from the van, mourns her death.
The dead woman’s sister-in-law, who was injured in the wreck, remains in Elmhurst Medical Center as of Tuesday, April 24. A relative told The Queens Courier that her condition was “not good.” Reports from the scene said that the woman, Maria Coatl, was lying on the ground after the crash screaming that she could not feel her legs.
The extended family of six adults and three children was said to have been returning from an uncle’s birthday party when Ahmad is alleged to have run a red light at high speed and slammed into them at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 65th Place. The livery van they were passengers in is reported to have spun, striking a parked vehicle.
Miraculously, Serrano’s infant son Arturo, 6 year-old daughter Ana and 8-month old nephew Rodrigo Coatl are reported to have been “bounced around but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.”
Ahmad is being held on $250,000 bail and is also charged with vehicular assault. If convicted of all the charges, he could face up to seven years in jail.