Families of 3 workers killed on I-91 in March attend suspect's arraignment
SPRINGFIELD — After nearly 29 years of marriage, Melissa Almeida now carries a tiny vial of her late husband's ashes everywhere she goes.
Her husband, Ryan Almeida, 48, was one of three construction employees working an overnight shift on a road job in West Springfield in March, repairing a guardrail damaged in a crash. He didn't survive the night.
Prosecutors said Bilal Griffith, 29, of West Springfield, plowed into Ryan Almeida and two of his coworkers while speeding off Exit 10A on Interstate 91 northbound. Griffith then flipped the Jeep Cherokee he was driving onto its roof, and fled the scene on foot, prompting police officers to search for him with dogs and helicopters, according to prosecutors.
At Griffith's arraignment in Hampden Superior Court Tuesday morning, Melissa Almeida saw the man accused of killing her husband for the first time.
She heaved a sob when he was escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles.
After the proceeding, when asked how she was coping, she responded 'I just breathe.'
She held her husband's ashes in a blue heart-shaped container, and she told a reporter she has set up a makeshift memorial to her husband in her living room in Brockton.
The couple had four children and three grandchildren.
Almeida drove out from their hometown, a journey of about 100 miles, simply to attend the brief court proceeding. The families of Igor Costa, 26, of Marlborough, and Raul Bohorquez, also of Brockton, 57, were in attendance. The families were unable to attend Griffith's first arraignment in Springfield District Court in March.
Griffith remains held on a $1 million cash bail and once again pleaded not guilty to three counts of manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of a personal injury crash with death resulting.
Almeida said she received a knock on the door around 5 a.m. the morning her husband was killed. She was met by a Massachusetts state trooper and two managers from Premier Fence, the workers' employer.
'I just knew right away, right then that something terrible had happened,' Almeida recalled.
A pretrial hearing in Griffith's case is set for Sept. 8.
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