Long Island woman sentenced for death of anti-gang activist

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - A Suffolk County judge has sentenced a New York woman to nine months in jail following her criminally negligent homicide conviction last year for the 2018 death of Evelyn Rodriguez.

Jurors also convicted Annmarie Drago of misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and petit larceny last year, Newsday reported.

Jurors found that Drago caused Rodriguez's death when she drove over the pedestrian following a dispute over a memorial that was set up in front of Drago's mother's home on September 14, 2018. 

Rodriguez arranged a memorial ahead of a vigil to mark the two-year anniversary of the discovery of her daughter's remains on the property.

Acting State Supreme Court Judge Fernando Camacho called Rodriguez's death "needless and avoidable."

Camacho said that he could not fathom what led Drago to destroy the memorial to Rodriguez's daughter before slipping away "like a thief in the night."

Prosecutors said Drago took apart the memorial, trashing items and seizing others because she did not want to scare off potential buyers for her mother's home.