Driver to appear in court for deadly Chicopee crash
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – One of the people accused in connection with a deadly crash in Chicopee will be in court on Tuesday.
Dozens gather at fundraiser for teenager in Chicopee battling rare cancer
The crash happened back in February, when a woman was walking on Abbey Memorial Drive when she was struck and killed. The woman, 34-year-old Vanessa Perez of Springfield, died due to her injuries. Police say two separate cars were involved in the crash that killed her, and both drivers will be charged.
On Tuesday, 29-year-old Lavonta Williams Jr. will be in court for an arraignment on multiple charges. The other driver, 23-year-old Jerimeldo Lopez of South Hadley, is expected to be in court on Wednesday.
Williams Jr. is being charged with one count of leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Lopez is being charged with one count of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and one count of leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Springfield woman arrested for DUI, files false report after hitting trooper
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – On Tuesday morning, a woman from Springfield allegedly struck a state trooper, who was conducting a traffic stop on the Westbound side of the Mass Pike in Chicopee. Project Lifesaver launches in Chicopee to help locate wandering individuals 22News obtained a copy of the police report to learn how investigators could track down a suspect. Police made a quick arrest, charging 32-year-old Naisha Rodriguez in connection with the crash. According to the police report, Rodriguez was driving a work-issued car at the time of the crash. After the incident, Rodriquez allegedly told her employer that five people attacked her and the car was stolen. But her story about the alleged attack and car theft was debunked by surveillance video. When people were dispatched to her home, Rodriguez ended up filing a police report with the same information, which she told her employer. The Subaru was later found on Windemere Street in Springfield with pieces of the trooper's patrol jacket and blood stains reportedly on the car. Officers then obtained an arrest warrant and took the suspect into custody. She was arraigned in court Wednesday on charges of driving under the influence, witness intimidation, leaving the scene of the crash, and falsely reporting a stolen vehicle. At the arraignment Wednesday morning, state police cruisers and troopers filled the parking lot and courtroom of Chicopee District Court in support of the injured trooper. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held on a $500,00 cash bail. The conditions of her bail include not using any devices while driving, staying away from alcohol, and wearing a GPS tracker. Rodriguez is set to be back in court for a pre-trial hearing on July 10th at 12pm. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sobriety checkpoint by Mass. State Police in Hampden County Friday the 13th
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – State Police will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint this Friday in Hampden County to help prevent under-the-influence driving. Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble states the checkpoint will be held somewhere in Hampden County between Friday, June 13th, into Saturday, June 14th. Trooper seriously injured in hit-and-run on Mass. Pike in Chicopee The checkpoints are an effort to help educate drivers and bring awareness to detecting a motorist driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. State Police say they will be done during various hours and the selection of vehicles will not be arbitrary. Signs will also inform drivers of an upcoming checkpoint to reduce fear and anxiety. During the sobriety checkpoints held in Hampden and Norfolk Counties on the last weekend of March, troopers arrested 14 drivers who were charged with operating under the influence. In addition, three people were arrested for other criminal offenses, 12 criminal summonses issued, 79 tickets for speeding, 18 seatbelt violations, six cell phone violations, and several firearms were recovered from a driver charged with OUI. The sobriety checkpoints are funded through a grant by the Office of Grants and Research of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Special investigation apparently requested over evidence leaks in Kohberger case
The defense for Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students, appears to have requested a 'special investigation' into alleged leaks in the case in an episode of NBC's 'Dateline' last month. The prosecution in the case filed a response Wednesday to the defense's motion regarding the appointment of a special prosecutor, according to a public case summary. Judge Steven Hippler, who presides over the case, ordered that filing sealed Thursday, the record showed. The case summary also indicated the defense filed a motion for 'Access and Fair Investigation' and an 'Objection to Release of Privileged and Confidential Work Product' on Wednesday, which Hippler also sealed Thursday. Sealed records are not released publicly, though the judge's sealing orders eventually will post to the state courts website, Idaho courts spokesperson Nate Poppino told the Idaho Statesman on Thursday. At a public hearing last month, Hippler stated he held a closed-door portion earlier that same morning, and the Ada County judge said he was open to bringing on a special prosecutor. That person would be tasked with investigating potential violations of the court's gag order by law enforcement or the prosecution through disclosure of previously unreleased information about Kohberger and the investigation revealed in the episode of 'Dateline.' 'As I indicated, I would be open to a request for appointment of a special prosecutor,' Hippler told the defense at that hearing, 'and that special prosecutor to ask for a magistrate inquiry so they have the power of subpoena and the power to question witnesses under oath, as well as the power to grant immunity. So I will be looking for that from you.' 'Dateline' representatives have not responded to prior requests for comment from the Statesman. The gag order, which took effect four days after Kohberger's arrest in late December 2022, restricts attorneys from both sides — and anyone affiliated with them, including members of law enforcement — from making public statements about the case outside of court. The episode of 'Dateline' aired May 9 — just days before a pretrial hearing in the case. Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based criminal defense attorney, told the Statesman that the filing appears to be about the appointment of a special prosecutor. 'That's exactly what I think that is,' Elcox said in a phone interview Thursday. 'Because obviously Judge Hippler invited it, and that's the way the formal request would be made. They do everything through motion practice, so the way you get that done is ask for a formal inquiry and the court would appoint a special prosecutor.' Hippler earlier issued orders to the prosecution and defense to retain all records and correspondence related to the likely violations within seven days. Each side filed a related 'notice of compliance' to the court on May 22, with the prosecution also submitting a supplemental filing on the matter the next day. Kohberger, 30, faces four counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of four students at an off-campus home in Moscow. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if a jury finds Kohberger guilty. The victims were U of I seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20. The three woman lived in the Moscow home with two female roommates who went physically unharmed in the attack, while Chapin was Kernodle's boyfriend and stayed over for the night. Kohberger's capital murder trial in Boise is scheduled to start with jury selection at the end of July. Defense attorneys last month sought to delay Kohberger's trial, citing an overwhelming amount of evidence they've yet to review, as well as the prejudicial information released about their client on the NBC news program. Prosecutors objected to that request to postpone, and a public court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, to argue the issue before Hippler.