Long Island mother accused of meth-fueled wrong-way driving accident that killed her 9-year-old son was victim of 'severe domestic violence': ex-attorney

New, cheery photos of the doomed 9-year-old who was killed by her allegedly drugged mother after causing a horrific wrong-way driving accident on Long Island hide a dark secret: “severe” domestic violence, her former lawyer claimed.

The pictures show Kerri Bedrick cuddling up to the much younger Eli, both smiling at the camera, while a second picture shows the chubby child years ago with his father's family, which includes three half-siblings and his grandmother.

Authorities said Bedrick, 32, was under the influence of meth when she put her soon-to-be fourth-grader in the back seat and drove the wrong way onto the Southern State Parkway on Thursday.

But attorney Eleanor Gery, who represented Bedrick in a previous case, said there is more to the Centerport woman's story.

“There will be many twists and turns [in this case],” Gery told the Post on Saturday.

Bedrick is “the type of person who lets others take advantage of her … she has come up short in many situations in life,” said Gery, who has not yet been hired to represent Bedrick in her current allegations.

Gery claims that Bedrick was “a victim of very serious domestic violence.”

Her ex, Eli's father, Dean Henrys, spent years in prison for beating her, relatives said.

But on Saturday, competing portraits of the embattled family emerged.

On Staten Island, Henry's other children, his current wife Zareen and his mother said he and Bedrick had fought for years over custody of Eli.

Dean Henrys was not present and the family said he would not speak until after Eli's funeral, which has not yet been set.

They declined to comment further on the domestic violence allegations, except for Zareen, who said only: “He served his sentence, he served two years.”

They claimed that Dean Henrys alerted authorities to Bedrick's behavior and drug problems, but provided no evidence that they reported the allegations.

“He literally told them, 'She's doing drugs, she's drinking, I want my son to be safe,'” Zareen said.

“… He was just afraid that this could happen, that she would hurt herself or [Eli]… Nobody listened to us.”

The family said they had not seen Eli in four years.

The boy they knew was “always happy. He was really silly. He would just jump around and have random bursts of energy,” recalled Eli's older half-sister, 20-year-old Aniya Henrys.

“My favorite memory of him is that he had this cardboard rocket ship. He had this imagination.”

Romeo Henrys, 18, said he played catch and tag with his younger half-brother and played in the pool.

“He was just a sweet boy,” he recalled.

Bedrick is being held on $1 million bail and is charged with aggravated driving while under the age of 16, driving without a license, illegal possession of a stimulant, operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.

At the arraignment, it was revealed that police found over four grams of pills in Bedrick's SUV that tested positive for meth. According to a criminal complaint, she admitted to taking the drug before driving in the back seat with Eli.

Neighbors of Bedrick in Centerport, a small town on Long Island's north shore, said she moved in less than two years ago.

“Everyone here knows everyone, but no one seems to know her,” said one resident.

Scott Zerner, an attorney who represented Bedrick in court Friday, could not immediately be reached for comment.