Latest news with #NorfolkDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Mother dies days after crash in Mass. that killed young daughter
A 38-year-old woman died after being wounded in a car crash in Franklin on May 24 that killed her daughter, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office announced. The district attorney's office identified the woman as Minaben Patel, of Franklin. Patel was a passenger in a car driven by her husband that collided with a pickup truck being driven by 21-year-old James Blanchard, of Franklin, Morrissey's office said in a statement. Blanchard faces several criminal charges, including motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently and under the influence of alcohol, in connection with the crash. Another juvenile, Patel's son, was hospitalized after the crash. Patel's husband was released from the hospital after treatment. A spokesperson for the district attorney's office said no update was available on the boy's condition. 'The Norfolk District Attorney's Office and the Franklin Police Department are saddened by the loss to Minaben's family and we extend our heartfelt condolences,' Morrissey and Franklin Police Chief Thomas J. Lynch said today. The crash remains under investigation. As Harvard fights Trump admin in court, professors are quietly dropping courses 2 men arrested in connection with shooting near University Park in Worcester Central Mass. man now facing manslaughter charge in connection with brother's death PeoplesBank buys naming rights to Hartford arena Thunderbirds, MassMutual partner for 3rd annual Community Caravan Program Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Mother of 5-year-old girl killed in Franklin crash by accused drunk driver has also died, DA says
A vigil is planned for the mother of a 5-year-old girl killed in a crash by an accused drunk driver in Franklin over Memorial Day weekend who has also died. Minaben Patel, 38, of Franklin, has died days after the May 24 crash that killed her daughter, Krisha Patel, 5, according to the district attorney and a Facebook post by the SAFE Coalition on Tuesday afternoon. 'The Norfolk District Attorney's Office and the Franklin Police Department are saddened by the loss to Minaben's family and we extend our heartfelt condolences,' Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and Franklin Police Chief Thomas Lynch said in a statement Tuesday. A vigil for Minaben Patel is planned for 6 p.m. Thursday at the crash site on Grove Street in Franklin, The SAFE Coalition, a Franklin-based nonprofit group, said in its Facebook post. Another vigil was held for her daughter, Krisha Patel, at the site last Wednesday. 'We would like to share, through the families wishes, that Minaben Patel, mother of sweet Krisha, has passed away,' the SAFE Coalition said in its post. 'Minaben's family is again deeply thankful for all the love and support shared over the last week,' the group said. 'They invite the community to honor this amazing Mother, Wife, Family Member and friend this Thursday for a service of remembrance.' The driver accused in the fatal crash, James Blanchard, 21, of Franklin, was ordered held on $250,000 cash bail following his arraignment on May 27. A not guilty plea was entered on Blanchard's behalf. He is charged with motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently and under the influence of alcohol, three counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury, negligent driving, driving a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol, and marked lanes violation, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey. It was immediately unclear Tuesday if Blanchard would face additional charges in the case. Boston 25 has reached out to Morrissey's office for comment. During his arraignment, prosecutor Christopher Meade said Blanchard told police he had two beers while at a landscaping job on Saturday, May 24 after working that morning at his job as a mechanic. When he left his landscaping job, he opened a 1.75 liter bottle of Tito's vodka. He began drinking straight out of the bottle and drove home in his truck, Meade said during the arraignment in Wrentham District Court. Investigators later found a second, empty 1.75 liter bottle of Tito's in his truck that Blanchard told police was 'from the night before,' Meade said. While driving home around 6:22 p.m. Saturday, May 24, Blanchard crashed into a Honda Accord carrying a family of four on Grove Street in Franklin, Meade said. They were going to Blackstone for a family birthday party. The 5-year-old girl died following the crash, Meade said. Her mother and brother were taken to a local hospital in critical condition. The brother's condition was not known on Tuesday. Her father, the driver of the Honda, was treated and released. Defense attorney Timothy Flaherty had asked the court during Blanchard's arraignment to impose a lesser amount of $10,000 cash bail, with conditions for his release to include electronic monitoring and that he enter an alcohol rehabilitation center. 'It's probably the right place for this young man at this time,' Flaherty said during the arraignment. 'It's a significant case but significant penalties. But I can tell the court that this young man is not a risk of flight.' An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of Minaben Patel's death, the district attorney said. Meanwhile, services were held for Krisha Patel on May 31, according to the girl's obituary. 'Our hearts are broken as we say goodbye to such a precious little soul. In her short time with us, she filled the world with laughter, wonder, and love,' her obituary states. 'Her smile could brighten the darkest day, and her kind heart touched everyone she met.' 'Though her time here was far too brief, her spirit will forever live on in the hearts of all who loved her,' her obituary states. 'We will carry her memory with us always - like a beautiful, shining star in the sky. May she rest peacefully, wrapped in love and light.' The crash remains under investigation by Franklin Police, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Karen Read's defense team adds 4 new names to prospective witness list
Karen Read's defense team on Tuesday added four new names to the list of witnesses whom they could call on to testify when they ultimately begin presenting their case in the 45-year-old Mansfield woman's murder retrial. In a new filing in Dedham's Norfolk Superior Court, Read's lawyers announced the addition of Matthew Coleman, of Quincy, Michael P. Arico, of Canton, Nicholas David White, of Milton, and Jonathan Diamandis, of Milton, to their witness list. Boston 25's Ted Daniel reported that these supplemental witnesses have been added for the sole purpose of authenticating texts sent by former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor. Proctor, who served as the lead investigator in the Read murder case, was fired from his role within the state police in March. Proctor was assigned to investigate the death of Read's Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe. He was relieved of his duty without pay this past summer after a mistrial was declared in Read's murder case and his last day with the Norfolk District Attorney's Office followed soon thereafter. Proctor came under fire for a series of disparaging texts he sent about Read, which he read aloud in court during witness testimony at her first trial. Proctor admitted on the stand that the texts were 'unprofessional.' He called Read things like a 'whack job' and other derogatory words. He talked about her medical issues and wrote, 'No nudes so far,' while going through her phone. When asked outside court last week if her lawyers plan to call Proctor to the witness stand, Read simply said, 'TBD.' Proctor was among 91 names included on the defense's initial witness list, which was filed in court back in March, weeks before her second trial started. The list includes many familiar names, including members of the Albert and McCabe family, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, Brian Higgins, and Dr. Marie Russell, in addition to Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth. Testimony resumed Tuesday morning after jurors were given an extended break for Memorial Day weekend. The prosecution called Dr. Judson Welcher, of Aperture LLC, to the stand. He is expected to be the final witness before they rest their case and turn things over to Read's defense. Read said last week that she's feeling 'anxious' to present a 'more robust' case. 'I'm ready to put on our case, which will be more robust than what we had last year,' Read explained. 'More witnesses, broader, and deeper.' Prosecutors allege Read intentionally backed into O'Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense has claimed that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O'Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party. Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. Get caught up with all of the latest in Karen Read's retrial. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Girl dies in two-car crash in Franklin, one arrested
FRANKLIN, Mass. (WWLP) – A driver is facing drunk driving charges for a crash that killed a young girl and injured several others in Franklin Saturday night. Woman dies in motor vehicle crash on Suffield and Adams Street in Agawam The crash took place in the area of Grove Street at Beaver Street. The Norfolk District Attorney's Office says the girl's mother and brother are in the hospital, but the father, who was driving, has been released. NBC Boston states the family's car collided with a pickup truck. The truck's driver, 21-year-old James Blanchard of Franklin, has been arrested. He faces several charges, including motor vehicle homicide, drunk driving, and negligent operation. Blanchard is being held on $500,000 bail and will appear in Wrentham District Court on Tuesday. 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
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
A timeline of Karen Read's murder trials
Karen Read is expected back in a Massachusetts court to face a second murder trial in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend in a case that has rallied pink-wearing supporters to her cause in their belief of a vast criminal conspiracy. Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. The case stems from the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, whose body was found bruised and battered in the snow on January 29, 2022, outside the home of a fellow officer in the suburb of Canton, Massachusetts. Her murder trial last year ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked on the charges and reported it could not come to a unanimous verdict. Read's retrial began April 1 with jury selection. Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday, and the trial is expected to last about six to eight weeks. Here's a look at a timeline of the entire case, from the key six-hour period surrounding O'Keefe's death and the ensuing legal battle over who is responsible. January 28, 2022: Read, of Mansfield, and O'Keefe went out drinking at two bars with friends. January 29, 2022: Shortly after midnight, the couple climbed into Read's SUV and drove to the Canton home of Brian Albert, one of O'Keefe's fellow officers, for an after-party, court documents show. O'Keefe got out of the vehicle, and Read then drove home. What happened next remains in dispute. Early the next morning, Read and two others drove around in a snowstorm to look for O'Keefe and found his body in the front yard of the Canton house, according to court documents. Prosecutors allege a drunken Read struck O'Keefe with the vehicle while driving in reverse and then fled, leaving him to die in the snowy cold. However, her defense has accused off-duty officers inside that Canton home of killing O'Keefe and framing Read. Additionally, some of O'Keefe's injuries were caused by a dog attack rather than a vehicle collision, the defense has argued. January 31, 2022: A medical examiner determined O'Keefe suffered multiple skull fractures, consistent with blunt-force trauma that led to bleeding in the brain. He also had two swollen black eyes and several abrasions and scrapes on his right arm, the autopsy ruled. Hypothermia was a contributing factor in his death, the autopsy ruled. February 1, 2022: Read was arrested on a manslaughter charge, according to the Norfolk District Attorney's Office. February 2, 2022: At her arraignment, Read pleaded not guilty and was freed on bail. June 9, 2022: A grand jury indicted Read on an upgraded charge of 2nd-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office said. April 18, 2023: Aidan Kearney, a Massachusetts blogger who goes by the name 'Turtleboy,' posted a story about the case titled 'Canton Cover-Up Part 1,' alleging Read was framed. He has since written over 500 articles on Read's case, garnering a sizable following. May 3, 2023: Read's defense argued in a pretrial hearing that O'Keefe was involved in a fight inside Brian Albert's home in Canton, according to CNN affiliate WBZ. They argue O'Keefe was beaten, wounded by a dog and dumped outside to die and that police had engaged in a cover-up. August 25, 2023: Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey released a video statement slamming conspiracies and harassment of witnesses in Read's case. 'Innuendo is not evidence. False narratives are not evidence,' he said. He said the evidence showed O'Keefe never entered Albert's home, and 11 people have given statements saying they never saw him in the home. October 11, 2023: Kearney, the blogger who goes by the name 'Turtleboy,' was charged with one count of conspiracy and eight counts of intimidation of a witness related to the case, according to CNN affiliate WCVB. Kearney has denied all wrongdoing. December 20, 2023: Kearney was indicted on 16 charges in all, WCVB reported. April 15, 2024: Due to sizable 'Free Karen Read' protests, the court ordered a buffer zone that bans anyone from protesting within 200 feet of the courthouse during the trial. April 16, 2024: Jury selection began. April 24, 2024: A jury was seated. April 29, 2024: Opening statements in her murder trial began. May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when they discovered O'Keefe's body, took the stand to discuss a Google search on her phone 'hos (sic) long to die in cold' on the morning of O'Keefe's death. McCabe testified Read directed her to make that search upon finding the body, while the defense has said McCabe searched the phrase hours earlier. June 3, 2024: State Police Lt. Kevin O'Hara testified about finding pieces of broken taillight at the Canton home after his death. The defense has argued the taillight pieces were planted. June 10, 2024: Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator and one of the prosecution's key witnesses, admitted under oath that he sent a series of sexist and offensive texts about Read in a private group chat, calling her a 'whack job c*nt,' mocking her medical issues and commenting to coworkers that he had found 'no nudes' while searching her phone for evidence, according to CNN affiliate WCVB. Proctor apologized for the 'unprofessional' comments on the stand. June 21, 2024: The prosecution rested its case after calling over 60 witnesses, including those inside the Albert family home the night of O'Keefe's death, police investigators, medical experts and data analysts, according to WBZ. June 24, 2024: The defense rested its case after calling a handful of witnesses, including medical experts and forensic analysts. Read did not testify. June 25, 2024: In closing arguments, prosecutors argued Read killed O'Keefe by backing into him after a drunken argument. 'What the constellation of the facts and the evidence ineluctably demonstrate here is that the defendant drove her vehicle in reverse at 24.2 miles per hour for 62.5 feet, struck Mr. O'Keefe, causing those catastrophic head injuries, leaving him incapacitated and freezing him to death,' prosecutor Adam Lally said. Her defense accused the off-duty police inside the Canton home of killing O'Keefe, dumping his body on the lawn and then conspiring through fabricated evidence and false testimony to frame Read. 'Ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover-up in this case, plain and simple,' defense attorney Alan Jackson said. 'You'll surely say to yourself, 'I don't want to believe it, I don't want to believe that could happen in our community,' but sadly over these past eight weeks you've seen it right before your eyes.' The jury began deliberations. June 28, 2024: The 12-person jury sent a note saying it could not reach a unanimous verdict. Judge Beverly Cannone ordered them to continue deliberating. July 2, 2024: The jury twice more reported it could not reach a unanimous verdict. One of the jury's notes said, 'Despite our commitment to the duty entrusted to us, we find ourselves deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind.' The judge declared a mistrial in Read's murder trial. That same day, Proctor, the state trooper, was relieved of duty, state police Col. John Mawn announced. July 8, 2024: Read's defense team filed a motion to dismiss two of the three charges against her, saying several jurors came forward to report the jury in deliberations had unanimously found her not guilty of the murder and leaving the scene counts but had deadlocked only on the charge of vehicular manslaughter. Charging her on the same counts again would be 'double jeopardy,' they argued. Prosecutors opposed the motion, arguing the jury did not formally report a verdict on any of the counts and the defense did not oppose the mistrial. August 23, 2024: Judge Cannone rejected the defense's attempt to throw out two of the charges and their 'double jeopardy' argument. September 11, 2024: Read's legal team appealed the 'double jeopardy' ruling to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. September 18, 2024: Special prosecutor Hank Brennan was appointed to lead the retrial. Brennan is best known for defending mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger in 2013. October 29, 2024: Vanity Fair published a two-part article featuring an extensive interview with Read. Feb. 11, 2025: The state's top court ruled Read can be retried on all the same charges, again rejecting the 'double jeopardy' argument. March 6, 2025: Kearney, the 'Turtleboy' blogger, was charged with a new count of witness intimidation, according to WCVB. March 17, 2025: Investigation Discovery released the five-part documentary series 'A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read,' featuring interviews with Read and her defense attorneys. (Investigation Discovery, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.) March 19, 2025: The Massachusetts State Police fired Proctor, the state trooper, for violating four department policies, including sending vulgar text messages about Read, according to WCVB. March 21, 2025: Cell phone data from Kearney's phones – including messages between him and Read – will be allowed into evidence, a judge ruled, as prosecutors seek to show Read's 'consciousness of guilt,' WCVB reports. March 26, 2025: An attorney who served as an alternate juror in Read's first trial was hired by her legal defense team, WCVB reports. March 27, 2025: The First Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appeals court, rejected Read's 'double jeopardy' argument and affirmed she can be retried on all three counts. April 1, 2025: Jury selection began in her second trial. That same day, Read's legal team filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court asking the justices to dismiss two of the charges due to the 'double jeopardy' concerns. April 15, 2025: An 18-person jury – nine men and nine women – was selected for Read's trial. CNN's Faith Karimi, Jean Casarez and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
