OAN Staff Avril Elfie
3:47 PM – Sunday, September 29, 2024
The drunk driver who beheaded seven-year-old Katie Flynn and her driver has been released.
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The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed Sunday that Martin Heigen, 43, was granted parole after serving 19 years for second-degree murder and was released from prison on Wednesday.
The driver's widow, Joyce Rabinowitz-Schuster, said in an email to the New York Post that the system had failed her and Flynn's family.
“This liberalism is a bullet in the back of families who are suffering the loss of a loved one,” Rabinowitz-Schuster said.
“There is no longer accountability in New York State. Murder charges should have a minimum of 25 years. Crime is on the rise in New York because of these negative attitudes and it has to stop. ” she wrote.
“My family and the Flynns and the Tangneys. [Katie’s maternal grandparents] Every day we feel connected to this crime and the hundreds of friends and families of the victims,” Rabinowitz-Schuster said. “Shame on the parole board for releasing a murderer.”
Mr. Hygen, who was 24 years old at the time of the tragic crash, was returning from a wedding in Bayville when he collided head-on with a limousine. He reportedly drove his pickup truck the wrong way for about three miles.
Authorities said his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the accident.
Also in the limo were Katie, her 5-year-old sister Grace, her parents Neil and Jennifer Flynn, and Jennifer's parents Dennis and Chris Tangney.
Katie's parents said: news daysaid the Parole Board's decision to release her young daughter's killer had a “significant impact” on her family.
“We asked the public to know our grief and feel our pain,” Jennifer Flynn told the outlet. “Katie was murdered as a 7-year-old girl, and it makes no difference to our lives where her killer lives, whether he is in prison or on parole.
“We know our news cycle is over, but we hope our readers remember us and that we influence their choices.”
Heigen was found guilty of two counts of murder, three counts of first-degree assault and one count of tampering with physical evidence, state officials said. As a result, he was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.
After being locked up, the guilty man tried to contest the sentence, but was shot dead.
The parole board granted Hygen conditional release on Aug. 13, and he was released Wednesday, a state spokesperson said.
Hygen's lawyer, Stephen LaMagna, told Newsday his client “eternally regrets” the consequences of his actions.
“Marty and his family would like to thank the Parole Board for finding it appropriate to parole Marty and allow him to re-enter society and become a productive and constructive member of our community. I am grateful,” Lamanya told the media. “He is and forever regrets all the pain he has caused so many people and continues to pray for them and their families.”
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