NY1.com

  73º

Updated 10/03/2009 05:39 PM

Funeral Held For Woman Killed By Allegedly Drunk Policeman

By: NY1 News

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Family and friends said goodbye Saturday to a woman who was killed in an alleged drunk driving crash involving an off-duty police officer.

The funeral held in Flatlands, Brooklyn for Vionique Valnord, 33, featured music and a picture slideshow of her life.

Valnord was hit trying to hail a cab on Avenue N in Flatlands last weekend.

Officer Andrew Kelly, 30, is charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in connection with Valnord's death.

Family members said losing Valnord was heartbreaking.

"We don't know how to feel. Sad, mad, but we are happy that we are able to send Veronica to the Lord," said Roudlin St. Vil, Valnord's brother-in-law. "We will see her again one day."

"She was very vibrant and high-spirited," said one family friend as she delivered a eulogy. "She showed love and affection to everyone."

The New York Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the possibility of a coverup because it took seven hours to draw Kelly's blood for a blood test.

Kelly then registered a blood alcohol content of zero.

According to published reports, the NYPD has reassigned one officer and suspended two, including one caught on surveillance video giving gum and water to Kelly just before his blood test.

Valnord's family said an investigation needs to get to the bottom of what happened and place the blame where it belongs.

"Justice between right and wrong. No cover up, no gray areas," said St. Vil. "I can only imagine how the officer's family is feeling. I can only imagine. But they cannot imagine losing a loved one in these circumstances."

Kelly is due back in court in December, but has been given the option to testify in front of a grand jury as early as next week.