Weddings bring two families together forever. Even if the couple decides to end things in divorce down the road, the families will never be able to separate completely. If children are born through the marriage, both sides of the union will want to shower that little one in love and presents. And because weddings unite two families, they are the most special day in many people’s lives.
After their daughter’s wedding celebration, Christopher and Denice decided to rent a limo to celebrate. Along with the bride’s sister Jennifer and her beloved husband Neil, they all piled into the limo and started to get the party rocking. Jennifer also brought her two daughters, Grace and Katie. The limo was supposed to take them home after the ceremony and reception, which changed their lives forever.
But on the way home things took a turn for the worst. They started driving out from the wedding venue in Long Island, New York. But as they got onto the highway, a 24-year-old named Martin Heidgen was also driving. But Heidgen was drunk out of his mind, and he slammed his vehicle head-on into the limo carrying the bride’s family.
What was supposed to be one of the best days in Christopher and Denice’s lives ended in tragedy.
Heidgen’s crash instantly killed the limo driver, a 59-year-old man named Stanley Rabinowitz. The machine’s engine crushed him to death. Christopher, the father of the bride, sustained serious injuries to his legs and was thrown to the floor of the limo. Later doctors would have no choice but to amputate both of Christopher’s legs to save his life.
Jennifer’s husband Neil then tried to crawl out of the limo and get help. But Hiedgen had broken his back. And Jennifer was injured as well. Her foot was crushed, and she was trying to find her daughters. Then she saw the horror. Katie was lying beside her, but the seatbelt had decapitated her.
Witness Michael Tangney was the first to arrive and help. He has also attended the wedding, and he was the bride’s uncle and a police officer.
“I was walking to the rear of the limousine when a gentleman was coming away from it, and he said, ‘Don’t go back there. It’s bad.”
Then Jennifer limped out of the limo holding Katie’s head in her hands. Jennifer collapsed onto the side of the road, sobbing with pain no mother should ever have to face. Then she kissed her daughter’s face for the final time before handing her head over to Michael.
Police reports revealed Martin Heidgen’s crime. He was more than three times over the legal limit. And he was driving 70 miles per hour. He had consumed at least fourteen drinks that night before he got behind the wheel and killed innocent people and destroyed a family.
Heidgen was driving on the wrong side of the highway for two miles before he became a murderer.
Martin Heidgen was sentenced to 18 years in prison with two counts of second-degree murder.
