She Lost Her 5-Year-Old Daughter in a Crash — Days Later, Her Family Faced a Second Devastating Blow

Yahoo

05-06-2025

The Massachusetts mother of a 5-year-old girl killed by an alleged drunk driver in a wrong-way crash over Memorial Day weekend has died — and the suspect now faces serious criminal charges.
On Saturday, May 24, at about 6:22 p.m., David Blanchard, 21, of Franklin, who allegedly had an open container of alcohol in his pick-up truck and was operating under the influence of alcohol, struck a car carrying a family of four, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office said.
Five-year-old Krisha Patel, a passenger in the car, was rushed to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Her brother, 14, and mother, Minaben Patel, 38, were rushed to the hospital where they were listed in critical condition, CBS News reports.
On Tuesday, June 4, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced that Minaben Patel had succumbed to her injuries.
The father, Atulkumar Patel, who was driving the car, was treated and released.
The crash took place just after the family left a soccer game, a neighbor said, WCVB reports.
The father told officers they were on their way to the restaurant Blackstone to celebrate his son's 14th birthday when he 'saw a truck driving in his lane,' according to a Franklin police report, WCVB reports.
Blanchard allegedly had two bottles of vodka in his pick-up truck and was drinking from one of them when he crashed into the Patels' car, Prosecutor Christopher Meade said, CBS News reports.
Blanchard had a blood alcohol level of 0.189. The legal limit in Massachusetts is 0.08.
Blanchard told officers he was coming home from Plainville, where he works, 'and then all of a sudden there was a crash," the police report stated, according to WCVB.
Asked if his truck drove in the oncoming lane, Blanchard "provided an evasive response saying that he doesn't remember too much and that the crash happened very fast," according to the report.
According to the police report, Blanchard, a mechanic, told detectives he stopped at a liquor store in Plainville after work, and bought a 1.75-liter bottle of Tito's vodka and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, then went to a landscaping job, WCVB reports.
"At the landscaping job, he had two beers,' the report said, according to WCVB. 'When he left, he opened the bottle of Tito's, which he had bought earlier, and began drinking straight out of it and drove home.
'When asked about the two bottles of Tito's in his vehicle, he said the empty bottle was from the night before, and the one that was 1/4 full of vodka was the bottle he bought earlier in the day, and the one he was drinking from before the crash," the police report said.
​​"It should be noted that [the suspect] drank 3/4 of a 1.75-liter bottle of Tito's vodka," detectives noted in the report.
He was arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide, drunk driving and several other offenses.
The district attorney's office did not respond to PEOPLE's request about additional charges possibly being filed against Blanchard.
He pleaded not guilty.
He is being held on a $250,000 bond. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Her family invited the community to honor Minaben's life at a Service of Remembrance on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM, to be held at 72 Grove Street, Unit #1, Franklin, Mass., "to celebrate a life marked by love, kindness, and quiet strength," according to a Facebook post from the Town of Medway.
Read the original article on People