Woman pleads guilty to negligent homicide in death of New York anti-gang activist

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A New York woman has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the 2018 death of an anti-gang activist during a dispute over a memorial for the activist’s slain daughter.

Annmarie Drago, 63, of Patchogue, entered the plea Friday in a Long Island courtroom and is expected to be sentenced to five years of probation, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. Sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 1.

Authorities said Drago struck Evelyn Rodriguez with her vehicle and then drove over her in Brentwood in September 2018, killing the 50-year-old activist.

The two were involved in confrontation after Drago had removed items from a memorial Rodriguez had set up in front of Drago’s mother’s house to mark the two-year anniversary of the discovery of the body of Rodriguez’s daughter, 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, prosecutors said.

Drago was trying to sell the house at the time and did not want the memorial to scare off buyers, prosecutors have said.

Kayla was hacked and beaten to death along with a friend in 2016. Authorities said they were killed by MS-13 street gang members in a dispute among high school students.

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