Moments after he pleaded guilty to drunkenly mowing down a Brooklyn preacher's daughter, a disgraced city cop approached the woman's dad and, tears in his eyes, extended his hand.
The Rev. Varius Valnord looked up at Andrew Kelly and waited a beat - and then shook his hand.
"He apologized to me and I accepted his apology," Valnord said afterward.
With that handshake, a chapter closed on a tragedy that began last September when Kelly struck and killed 32-year-old Vionique Valnord as she was hailing a cab.
click here for cheap dvdsKelly, also 32 and a father of two from Queens, has already resigned from the NYPD and faces 90 days in jail and five years probation when he is sentenced Sept. 27. But at least he has the Valnord's family's forgiveness.
"It was more generous than I could have imagined," he told his lawyer, Arthur Aidala.
Dressed in a black suit, Kelly stood through the 20 minute hearing in Brooklyn Supreme Court and admitted he had been drinking beer before the deadly crash.
Asked if it was his intention to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, Kelly answered, "Yes it is, your honor."
click here for cheap dvdsKelly faced up to seven years in prison. Under a plea deal worked out with prosecutors and Valnord's kin, he agreed to undergo alcoholism treatment and will be barred from driving for a year.
When Kelly gets his drivers license back, he will be required to install an "ignition interlock device" to furthur prevent him from driving drunk.
Valnord's dad said he was "satisfied with the guilty plea."
"He accepted responsibility and he will no longer be a police officer," said the pastor of the Haitian Church of God in Brooklyn.
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