Outrage after Long Island drunk driver who killed 7-year-old girl released on parole

NEW YORK - The family of 7-year-old Katie Flynn are expressing their outrage after the man responsible for Flynn's death in a drunk-driving crash was granted parole and released from prison.

In 2005, the Flynn family was returning home from a wedding where Katie had been the flower girl with Martin Heidgen, who was 24 at the time and was driving drunk, crashed his pickup truck into their limousine, killing Katie and loom driver Stanley Rabinowitz instantly.

Prosecutors described Heidgen's actions as deliberate.

"He was desperate, he lost his job," said Denise Tagney, Katie's grandmother. "He was trying to commit suicide and that was never covered properly over the years."

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said she disagrees with the Parole Board’s decision and says she doesn’t believe Heidgen learned his lesson.  

"To let them out after the minimum sentence doesn’t seem to reflect to me the severity of what he did," Donnelly said. "He said drinking would be part of his life he believed when he got released and probably driving also."

Heidgen's attorney in a statement said his client is forever remorseful for all of the pain he has caused. However, Katie's family members say that is little consolation.

"It never goes away, the pain never goes away," Denise said.