CBS New York
- Christopher Baldner was indicted on murder, manslaughter, and reckless endangerment charges Wednesday.
- Tristin Goods says Baldner rammed his SUV during a traffic stop in December 2020.
- The SUV hit a guardrail, flipped, and 11-year-old Monica Goods was ejected from the vehicle and died.
A New York State trooper has been charged with murder, 10 months after he rammed a family's SUV during a traffic stop and caused the death of an 11-year-old girl, prosecutors allege.
A grand jury indicted Trooper Christopher Baldner on charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and first-degree reckless endangerment in connection to the December 22, 2020 incident which resulted in the death of 12-year-old Monica Goods, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege that Baldner pulled over the Goods' family car for speeding, but fired pepper spray into the car during the traffic stop.
In an interview with the New York Daily News in June, Monica's father, Tristin Goods, said he was driving upstate with his wife and two daughters to visit family for Christmas.
Goods claimed Baldner was argumentative from the start of the traffic stop, yelling at him and claiming that Goods was driving so fast that he shook Baldner's car and demanding to know whether he had drugs or guns in the vehicle, according to the Daily News.
Prosecutors said that after Goods drove away after being pepper sprayed, Baldner pursued them, ramming his police vehicle into their SUV twice.
The Goods' car flipped over "several times" and Monica was ejected from the car, killing her, prosecutors said.
-HJ (Hank) Ellison (@hjtherealj) October 29, 2021
Baldner surrendered Wednesday morning and was suspended from the department without pay, state police officials told NBC New York. Baldner was ordered held without bail pending a bail hearing scheduled for November 4, according to the Associated Press.
Baldner's union, which said it would be providing him with an attorney, did not return Insider's call on Friday either.
In a press conference after the charges against Baldner were announced on Wednesday, Monica's mother, Michelle Surrency, said that the indictment was a step in the right direction, but justice hasn't been attained for her daughter yet.
"We were robbed. And it's not fair," Surrency said, according to NBC New York. "I just want people to know the fight isn't over. This is just the beginning. You know, I didn't lose one child that day, I lost two because Tristina will never be the same."
An advocate for Monica's family, the Rev. Kevin McCall, added that Baldner shouldn't have even been behind the wheel.
Gov. Kathy Hochul previously revealed that Baldner was involved in two other crashes on the NYS thruway - an incident in January 2017 where he crashed into someone on I-87 and an incident two years later where he crashed into another vehicle, seriously injuring three people and causing "grave risk of death," CBS New York reports.
"We cannot allow someone that has a history to be on any police force throughout this state," McCall told CBS New York.
Monica Goods' family didn't respond to a request for comment on Friday.
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