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Updated 09/28/2009 10:00 PM

Off-Duty Officer Suspended In Wake Of Manslaughter Charges

By: NY1 News

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An off-duty police officer has been suspended after being arraigned on charges stemming from a deadly car crash in Brooklyn.

Andrew Kelly, 30, was arraigned Sunday on vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving charges.

He posted $200,000 bond and is due back in court on Friday.

The Brooklyn district attorney says Kelly hit Vionique Valnord, 33, with his SUV early Sunday morning on East 56th Avenue and Avenue N in Flatlands. Valnord was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.

Family and friends say she was just waiting for a cab after leaving a wedding when she was struck and killed.

"We were all having a good time," said Regine Mazile, the victim's friend. "We were all dancing, we were all laughing, we were all talking; she was perfectly fine. She's a vibrant person, she's a good person. If you're down, she's the one to come to you. She's such a joker, a comedian. She will make you laugh if you're down; she's always there to put a smile on your face."

"She is very good person," said the victim's stepmother Rosette Valnord. "She is very kind, very care, very lovely person, very happy person. She'd be there for everybody."

Michael Downs, another off-duty officer who was in the car at the time of the crash, has also been suspended for 30 days without pay and faces departmental charges. Downs is a four-year veteran of the NYPD.