DA: Kinalis Filled Scripts For 480 Pain Pills in Days Before Fatal Crash
Alleged drugged driver was under the influence of three prescription drugs at the time of crash that killed 5-year-old West Islip boy, officials say.
Steven Kinalis, the man now charged with aggravated vehicular homicide related to the death of West Islip 5-year-old John Gaffney, filled prescriptions for nearly 500 painkillers in the days before last month's fatal crash.
"One bottle, filled the day before the crash, was for 360 Oxycodone pills and 107 pills were missing; and the second bottle, for 120 pills, filled two days before the crash, was completely empty," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Monday, a day before Kinalis, 31, will be arraigned on upgraded felony charges.
A search of Kinalis' Ronkonkoma home also turned up quantities of Xanax (an anti-anxiety medication) and Adderall (a stimulant used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), as well as empty Soma (a muscle relaxer) and Oxycontin prescription bottles, Spota said, adding that the medications were prescribed by three different doctors and filled at five different pharmacies on Long Island.
"The aftermath of this defendant's doctor shopping is the death of this 5-year-old boy," said Spota, who choked up during a press conference Monday morning while speaking of the Gaffney family's annual trip out east to buy a Christmas tree on Dec. 10. "This is what is at stake."
A single doctor wrote Kinalis five prescriptions in one day--including the two for 30 mg tablets of Oxycodone. That doctor, whom Spota did not name, is under investigation by a special grand jury convened to investigate prescription drug abuse on Long Island.
A toxicology report found that Kinalis was driving under the influence of Oxycodone, Xanax and Soma when he rear-ended a pickup truck driven by Kevin Gaffney, Spota said.
The impact of the crash sent the pickup truck off Sunrise Highway into a tree. John Gaffney, a kindergartner at Oquenock Elementary School, was strapped into his booster seat in the back seat of the truck. He died from head and neck injuries a day later.
"Our investigation has established that Kinalis was speeding and driving recklessly; cutting off motorists, making unsafe lane changes and driving so fast a witness moments before the crash said her car literally shook as Kinalis sped by," Spota said.
"They got into that car, they were using drugs very, very clearly and they just didn't care," Spota added, also referring to a Medford woman charged with vehicular manslaughter related to a fatal New Year's Eve crash.
Kinalis has been in jail since the crash. Aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony that state lawmakers put on the books following the drunk driving crash that killed 7-year-old Katie Flynn on the Meadowbrook Parkway in 2005, is punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Kinalis is also charged with felony counts of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, as well as misdemeanor charges of driving while under the influence of drugs and reckless driving.
Kinalis will be arraigned Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead before Judge James Hudson.
More than 200 people on a "Justice for John Gaffney" Facebook page have indicated that they would attend the arraignment.
Keith McGurk
4:05 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
I can't even get Advil cold & sinus without showing ID, electronically signing myself into a tracking database nationwide and also a clipboard at times for local recording. My point is that this guy filled nearly 500 pills from 3 Doctors in 5 pharmacies (all relatively close to one another)! The outcome?...my 5 year old cousin was killed in an accident that will always haunt my family just 2 weeks before Christmas...on their way to pickup the family's Christmas tree! Teri, Kevin, Emma & Ryan all need our support. And all of us need to make sure the next tragedy doesn't happen in your family. Thomas Spota and the Suffolk County DA's office have their work cut out for them but I will stand next to them every step of the way to make sure this epidemic is stopped for good. RIP John Gaffney you were taken too soon and too young, but your legacy and God's purpose just may be to save the next family from the heartache that my family will always feel.
Jessica Horvath
9:27 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
You are 100% right Keith! I need to show my license to buy Nyquil, but this guy bought all these pills???? How is that ok??? Why are doctors prescribing this stuff to people who don't need it? The whole system needs to be overhauled!!! It is like a knife twisting in my heart every time I see a picture of sweet little John. I hate that this happened, but let us hope that John's death changes this! That others will think twice about doing what Stephen Kinalis did. That the State of New York enacts laws that prevent this from ever happening again. They are already in the works, thank God. And Keith, please know, this community is behind your family 100%. We are praying for you all daily. God bless all of you.
Lena Montes
5:32 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
Let's pray Steven gets put away for a long, long time. He must pay for the immeasurable pain he has caused this family. Here is an article about a Riverside man who was charged with the same crime and got put away for 25 years to life...DA Spota also prosecuted this case ....Gaffney's deserve this sentenence at the LEAST ! http://riverheadlocal.com/local-news-content/1013-riverside-man-gets-max-for-aggravated-vehicular-homicide
Glenn Montes
7:49 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
"Kinalis has been in jail since the crash. Aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony that state lawmakers put on the books following the drunk driving crash that killed 7-year-old Katie Flynn on the Meadowbrook Parkway in 2005, is punishable by up to 25 years in prison."
UP TO 25 years in prison is not enough for a crime such as this. We need to press our politicians to change the law so that, in the future, someone found guilty of committing a crime such as this, 25 years is the minimum sentenced received, not the maximum.
Enough is enough.
Send a message to our local politicians (Assemblyman Boyle and State Senator Johnson among others) that we expect them to act...now! We have had enough.
Do this for John Gaffney and his family and all of the victims of such a heinous, selfish and wholly preventable crime.
http://www.change.org/petitions/increase-the-penalty-for-killing-someone-while-dui-dwai-or-dwi
Vanessa Vaz
9:57 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Although I do believe that part of the RX problem are the doctors, investigators need to look into the office staff at the doctors' offices, ie: receptionists. A lot of times they are young immature girls willing to sneak a few RX sheets of the pad, fill them out and sell them or give them to their little boyfriends. Kinalis was given 5 RX's in one day. To me, that sounds like a young girl hooking up her friend with stolen RX's. I could be wrong but this is just what I suspect. God Bless you, baby John. My prayers go out to your family, friends and community. May you rest in peace with our Lord God.