BOSTON (WHDH) - A Bellingham man pled guilty on Monday to killing one pedestrian and injuring two others after the car he was driving struck them last October in Roxbury, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
Kevin McCaffrey, 47, pled guilty to one count of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of drugs and one count of operating under the influence of drugs in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday. Judge Michael Doolin sentenced McCaffrey to four to five years in state prison and seven years probation.
“You took our sister, you should pay,” the victim’s sister Kim Alpert said earlier this month.
Assistant District Attorney Erin Murphy said that at about 10:25 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2021, McCaffrey’s 2012 Honda Civic veered off Theodore Glynn Parkway in Roxbury and struck three pedestrians. Lisa Vadeboncoeur, who was 59 at the time, was pronounced dead after being treated by Boston EMS and transported to Boston Medical Center. A second victim suffered leg and head injuries and required emergency surgery. The third victim was treated and released the same day.
“It was a total shocker – she was just on her way to do laundry,” said Vadeboncoeur’s sister Karen Cain earlier this month. “It’s not where she lived, it’s not where she was, she just needed to do laundry with her friends.”
McCaffrey nodded off several times during an interview with detectives following the incident. A Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) who evaluated McCaffrey said he believed McCaffrey was impaired by narcotics. Toxicology testing determined that McCaffrey’s blood was positive for fentanyl, cocaine and benzodiazepines.
Several family members gave victim impact statements at the sentencing.
“A life was taken, two others changed forever,” said one family member, explaining the impact of the fatal crash.
Surveillance video showed McCaffrey whipping his car around Theodore Glynn Way in Roxbury last October before crashing into three people who were walking on the side of the road that morning.
“Mr. McCaffrey made numerous tragic choices that morning. He chose to ingest powerful drugs, then he chose to get behind the wheel of a vehicle and drive on city streets. Those choices led to one person’s death and another’s serious injuries, and to survivors forever mourning a beloved family member and friend,” Hayden said.
Vadeboncoeur’s family members previously voiced their concerns about McCaffrey’s sentencing.
“Four to five years for taking someone’s life, someone that’s never going to be able to see the light of day again, never going to be experiencing the love for her grandkids, you know, or to do her own things,” said Kevin Vadeboncoeur, the victim’s son. “Giving someone four to five years in prison just, like, it just doesn’t cut it with me.”
Lisa’s family said she was living in a sober house at the time of the crash, and that her life and death should not be diminished based on where her death happened.
“She was special,” Cain said. “She was special to all of us.”
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