Lowell Man Indicted for Fatal Jamaica Plain Crash That Killed Unborn Child

A Suffolk County grand jury indicted Luis Bermudez Torres, 23, after a high-speed crash on the Jamaicaway killed a pregnant woman's 26-week fetus and left her seriously injured.

Lowell Driver Faces Manslaughter Charges After 103 mph Jamaica Plain Crash

A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted a 23-year-old Lowell man on manslaughter and homicide charges following a high-speed crash on Boston's Jamaicaway that killed an unborn child, boston.com reported Monday.

Luis Bermudez Torres was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court after prosecutors alleged he drove at more than 100 mph through Jamaica Plain on the night of Aug. 17, triggering a chain of collisions that ended in tragedy for a pregnant woman and her family.

Torres and his girlfriend had left an event at Franklin Field around 10 p.m. when Torres rear-ended another vehicle with his 2016 Honda Accord while heading north on the Jamaicaway, the Suffolk District Attorney's office said in a press release. Torres then "panicked" and fled the scene at rapidly increasing speeds, according to prosecutors.

Data retrieved from the vehicle's event recorder showed Torres reached 103 mph — more than four times the posted 25 mph speed limit at the crash site. While navigating a curve, he lost control, crossed the median, and struck head-on a car carrying a 39-year-old pregnant woman and her brother.

The collision killed the woman's 26-week-old fetus, a boy, prosecutors said. The woman sustained blunt force trauma and a fractured wrist. Torres' girlfriend suffered substantial injuries, while Torres himself sustained a laceration to his leg. The pregnant woman's brother was uninjured.

Torres faces charges of manslaughter, reckless motor vehicle homicide, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Judge Edward Curley set bail at $50,000 cash and ordered Torres not to operate a motor vehicle as a condition of release. An attorney for Torres declined to comment.

The grand jury returned the indictment on Friday, and police arrested Torres Monday morning in Boxford. His next court date is a pre-trial conference scheduled for Nov. 2.

"The circumstances here point to terribly reckless actions that have caused enormous heartbreak," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said. "The fact that this woman was doing nothing more than driving on a summer evening just magnifies the tragedy."

Source: Google News JM — Crime