Woman set to be sentenced in 2021 hit-and-run of NYPD officer

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – A woman convicted of killing an NYPD officer in a 2021 hit-and-run was expected to be sentenced Wednesday, officials said. 

Jessica Beauvais, 34, could face 27 years in prison after she was convicted in November of last year of aggravated manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident related to the crash, officials said. 

Prosecutors said Beauvais was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol – while driving on a suspended license – when she struck Officer Anastasios Tsakos on the Long Island Expressway.

“The defendant had absolutely no business being behind the wheel. Her selfish decision-making and recklessness led to a horrific, senseless tragedy that left Detective Tsakos’ widow to raise their two young children without their father,” said Queens District Attorney Katz at the time of Beauvais’ conviction.

Tsakos was responding to a fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway in the middle of the night on April 27, 2021 when Beauvais sped through traffic cones and hit the officer, according to the district attorney. 

Beauvais sped away, and police chased the woman for about three miles before she slammed her car into a police cruiser, prosecutors said. She was arrested shortly after, prosecutors said.