RIVERHEAD - A Ridge woman Thursday pled not guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second degree manslaughter charges for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol when she lost control of her Nissan Sentra and collided with another vehicle on Whiskey Road in Ridge in May of last year.

Jennifer Jorgensen, 30, arrested by police on an indictment warrant, also pled not guilty to charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the combined influence of drugs and alcohol, talking on a cell phone while driving, speeding, and endangering the welfare of a child at her arraignment before Judge C. Randall Hinrichs in Riverhead.

Robert and Mary Kelly of Ridge died from injuries suffered in the crash, and Jorgensen, eight months pregnant when the accident occurred May 30, 2008, gave birth to a girl by emergency C-section after the crash. The infant, Ashley Jorgensen-Kaiser, died June 4, 2008 from injuries caused by the crash.

Robert Kelly, 75, was driving westbound on Whiskey Road, with his wife as the front seat passenger, around three in the afternoon when Jorgensen struck Kelly’s 1999 Ford Taurus head-on near the Wading River Hollow Road intersection.  Evidence from the collision reconstruction indicated the Jorgenson vehicle was traveling eastbound in the westbound lane.  Robert Kelly died at the scene and Mary Kelly died of her injuries approximately four weeks later.

Laboratory analysis of Jorgenson’s blood found a blood alcohol level of .06 and the presence of the anti-anxiety medication Clonazepam.    

The top count in the indictment, aggravated vehicular homicide, is punishable by a prison term upon conviction of eight to 25 years.

Judge Hinrichs released the defendant on her own recognizance.