New York, NY – A 35-year-old woman will serve more than two decades in prison for the fatal hit-and-run of an NYPD officer while intoxicated and driving without a license, a crime committed hours after she was recorded disparaging police on a podcast.
Jessica Beauvais was sentenced by Queens County Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise to up to 27 years in state prison for the 2021 death of Detective Anastasios Tsakos, according to authorities. The sentencing followed a jury’s conviction of Beauvais on charges of second-degree aggravated manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz stated that Beauvais, with a suspended license, under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, should not have been driving. “A police officer, doing his job protecting others, lost his life,” Katz remarked, expressing hope that the sentence would offer closure to Tsakos’ family.
The incident occurred on April 27, 2021, when Tsakos and his partner were managing traffic at a fatal accident scene on the Long Island Expressway. Beauvais, driving a 2013 Volkswagen Passat, ignored traffic cones and struck Tsakos, resulting in his death and attempting to flee the scene. Beauvais’ sentences for the aggravated manslaughter charge and for leaving the scene of the accident will run consecutively, followed by five years of probation upon release.