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Oceanside’s Diana Kutateladze — already charged in last month’s double-fatal DWI wreck on the Southern State Parkway — has been indicted by a Nassau County grand jury on aggravated vehicular homicide and more than 20 other charges, prosecutors announced on Friday.
The high-speed, drunk driving crash killed a husband and wife and injured several other drivers and passengers.
Kutateladze, 36, pleaded not guilty Friday before Judge Howard Sturim to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, assault, and drunk driving, among other charges. She was ordered to be held in jail.
If convicted, the mother of three young children, faces between 8-1/3 and 25 years in prison.
“A husband and wife who spent their lives serving the community are dead because this defendant allegedly drove drunk instead of just staying home,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Diana Kutateladze was allegedly driving more than 80 miles per hour while intoxicated when she crashed into one car, crossed into oncoming traffic, and crashed head-on into the victims’ vehicle.”
High-speed crash triggered five-car pileup
The crash happened March 15 about 10:15 p.m. when Kutateladze was driving her 2020 Cadillac Escalade west on the Southern State Parkway in Malverne with her husband in the front passenger seat, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the crash began when Kutateladze allegedly sideswiped a BMW near exit 17S, then jumped over the center guardrail into oncoming traffic in the eastbound lanes and smashed head-on into a 2016 Toyota Highlander.
The Highlander’s passenger side was crushed at impact, killing Donald Maxwell, 82, and Liscent “Barbara” Maxwell, 88, of Westbury instantly, authorities said.
Pastors at the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Far Rockaway, the Maxwells were on their way home from a church event.
The 71-year-old driver of the Highlander sustained serious injuries, including fractured ribs and a compound fracture of his hand that required surgery and the insertion of metal hardware. The man also suffered a significant heart injury that requires ongoing treatment and monitoring, prosecutors said.
Husband remains hospitalized with severe injuries
Kutateladze’s husband Teimurazi was also critically injured during the crash that left left him trapped inside the couple’s SUV. First responders extricated him and he was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, where he was placed on a ventilator to survive.
He suffered multiple broken bones and significant head trauma resulting in a brain bleed, court documents show. He required the insertion of a titanium plate to stabilize his midsection and remains hospitalized more than a month after the crash, according to the district attorney.
Greater Long Island reported in March that Teimurazi Kutateladze, 40, had his own pending drunk-driving charge at the time of the crash — involving the same Cadillac Escalade. He was arrested in Brooklyn after rear-ending a vehicle, court records showed.
Blood alcohol nearly double legal limit
Blood drawn from Diana Kutateladze at the hospital revealed her blood alcohol concentration was .15 percent approximately one hour after the crash — nearly double the legal limit of .08 percent, prosecutors said.
Kutateladze told authorities she had consumed “a mixed beverage, whiskey and coke” before getting behind the wheel, according to the original criminal complaint against her.
Her vehicle’s crash data recorder indicated she was speeding at 81 mph five seconds before the crash, Donnelly said.
The head-on crash triggered a chain reaction that caused a five-car pileup. Three other vehicles crashed into the wreckage, leaving drivers with an array of injuries, including whiplash, back pain and knee trauma that will likely require surgery, prosecutors said.
The collision shut down part of the Southern State Parkway for several hours as emergency crews worked to extricate victims and clear the road of debris.
State police arrested Kutateladze shortly after the wreck. She was initially charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, first- and second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.
The grand jury indictment includes two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter in the first degree; two counts of second-degree manslaughter; aggravated vehicle assault, two counts of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, first-degree vehicular assault, two counts of second-degree vehicular assault and four counts of second-degree assault.
She is additionally charged with driving while intoxicated (felony), five counts of third-degree assault, driving while intoxicated (misdemeanor), and reckless driving.
The Kutateladzes have three young children: twin boys, age 6, and a 4-year-old daughter.
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