Family demands stronger charges in Melville DWI crash that killed father
News 12 reached out to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office about whether additional charges may be filed and is awaiting a response.
Top Stories
A growing memorial of teddy bears and candles now marks the Melville intersection where 28-year-old Joseph Melendez was killed on Oct. 25.
Police say 24-year-old Jennifer Kirkpatrick crashed into Melendez as he rode an e-bike near Bagatelle Road and the South Service Road around 1 a.m.
Melendez’s family says they are still struggling to process his death and the impact it has had on his 7-year-old son.
“He was a good father, a good brother, a good son,” Melendez’s sister, Rubi, said. “He brightened the whole room when he walked in.”
Kirkpatrick is currently charged with DWI, which the family says does not reflect the seriousness of the crash or the loss of their loved one. They also say they were initially told the first court date would be held Nov. 20 but later learned it had already been held Monday. The case has since been adjourned to Dec. 22.
Family members are now urging prosecutors to pursue manslaughter charges.
“They don’t see us,” Rubi said. “I feel like if it was a person of color or a Hispanic person, they would’ve been held, they would’ve been charged, they would’ve never walked.”
News 12 reached out to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office about whether additional charges may be filed and is awaiting a response.
Kirkpatrick’s attorney said she is a “young lady with no prior criminal history and for the most part is law-abiding,” adding that they are reviewing the case and plan to defend her in court.
The next court date is scheduled for Dec. 22.
