The district attorney's office said during the trial that the teenage victim suffered serious physical injury including multiple fractures of the pelvis, six fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and numerous bruises and abrasions.
A Long Island woman who allegedly hit a teenager with her car and then ran over the boy twice has been acquitted of attempted murder.
Jennifer Nelson, 36, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted murder, assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in serious physical injury.
A Suffolk County jury took less than four hours to acquit her of all these charges with the exception of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in serious physical injury.
Those charges all stem from an incident that occurred on Oct. 7, 2022 when Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney claimed that Nelson "drove her 2020 Honda Passport to the Dunkin’ Donuts located across from William Floyd High School."
Nelson drove to that location so that she could allegedly confront a group of students who she claims participated in a robbery targeting her son earlier that day and had been bullying the boy, according to Tierney.
When she arrived in the parking lot, Nelson allegedly got out of her car holding a bat and a knife, and began to threaten the students, Tierney claimed.
When the 15-year-old teenage victim walked across street, Nelson allegedly got in her car and followed the boy,
"Nelson’s vehicle struck the victim who then fell onto the ground," said Tiernay. "Nelson proceeded to drive over the victim, up onto a curb, reversed, drove over the victim again, and then fled the scene."
Nelson denied intentionally hitting the teenager and testified that she would have notified authorities had she been aware that she ran over someone.
The district attorney's office said during the trial that the teenage victim suffered serious physical injury including multiple fractures of the pelvis, six fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and numerous bruises and abrasions.
It was also revealed during the trial that Nelson allegedly traded her 2020 Honda Passport in for a newer model just hours after the incident and "despite the fact that her lease was not set to expire. ”
Nelson, who had been facing the possibility of 25 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder in New York, will now likely receive probation.
In an interview outside the courthouse following the verdict, Tierney said: "We respect the jury's verdict and are gratified that they found the defendant criminally libel for her unconscionable treatment of the victim."
