
Vigil after Madeline Sershen’s death (Facebook)
Sept. 20, 2018 By Tara Law
An 88-year-old Whitestone woman pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for a June 25 crash that killed a teenage girl.
Sheila Kahn-Prager was sentenced to conditional discharge and agreed not to drive again as part of the plea deal, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
On June 28, Kahn-Prager ran a red light and struck and killed 17-year-old Madeline Sershen, who had been crossing the street in a crosswalk and with the green light.
Kahn-Prager later told police that she had been unable to see Sershen or the red light, District Attorney Richard Brown said.
“This was an extremely sad and tragic case. The victim was a promising young lady who would be in her final year of high school, if she were alive today,” Brown said.
After Sershen’s death, more than 20,000 people signed an online petition calling for the Department of Motor Vehicles to test all drivers over 80 every two years to determine that they can drive safely on city streets.
As part of her plea, Kahn-Prager surrendered her drivers license and signed the petition. If Kahn-Prager commits an offence within the next year, she will face one year of incarceration.