LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - A 23-year-old man who sped away from a traffic stop is facing a manslaughter charge in connection with a head-on collision that claimed the life of a young girl in Lawrence Saturday evening.
Selvin Manuel Lima, of Lawrence, is expected to be arraigned Monday at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, depending on his condition, on charges of manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and failure to stop for a police officer, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say when officers approached Lima’s car at a traffic stop, he sped away, lost control as he turned onto Winthrop Avenue, and crossed into the southbound travel lane, striking a black 2016 Honda Civic head-on.
Surveillance video captured witnesses rushing to help the five people inside the Honda.
One good Samaritan said he “dragged the lady out and laid her on the ground.”
He recalled her saying, “My kids, my kids!”
A young girl was transported to Lawrence General Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, the DA’s Office announced.
The four other occupants — a 27-year-old man, of Lawrence, a 29-year-old woman, of Peabody, and two other children, also of Peabody — were transported to various Boston hospitals with serious injuries.
Residents made a memorial consisting of candles, flowers and other items at the scene of the crash.
“It’s just sad,” one man said. “It’s just something that should not have happened that happened.”
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