BOSTON (WHDH) - Jurors in the trial for a woman accused in the 2018 death of a toddler in South Boston are set to see video of the crash and hear from more witnesses after hearing an emotional testimony Wednesday.
Jurors will soon see video of the crash and hear from the toddler’s nanny at the time as they head into the second day of the trial for Charlene Casey, the woman who prosecutors said caused a “chain reaction” crash in South Boston on July 25, 2018, when she failed to stop at a stop sign at an intersection and collided with a van.
McGrath’s parents were in court Wednesday as a woman from Scituate testified how, while driving home at the time, she stopped and tried to save Colin’s life by performing CPR.
“I kept talking to Colin, telling him that we loved him, and that he needed to fight, and (I) put him down (on) the sidewalk, checked his response and there was no response,” said Mary Kate Shea. “So I checked his breathing, and no breathing.”
Prosecutors said Casey failed to stop at a stop sign at an intersection and crashed into a van that had the right of way. The state claims the impact affected the driver of the van’s ability to steer, leaving him to watch helplessly as his vehicle jumped a curb and struck 2-year-old Colin McGrath, his 4-year-old sister and their nanny, who were all on the sidewalk. Colin was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center, while his sister suffered broken bones, a lacerated liver and other injuries. The caretaker was not seriously injured.
“After I got hit, I slid, tried to turn my wheel, and I hit the children,” said Michael Racioppi, the driver of the van.
Racioppi admitted to having unlit marijuana in his van at the time of the crash. He said he had not been smoking while previously working as a contractor and was not distracted when the collision happened.
When pressed on the fact that the pipe had cannabis in it at the time, he said the object was sitting in his vehicle’s center console while he was driving.
Casey’s lawyers said Racioppi had also been speeding up to make a green light a block away at the time of the crash, and that they plan to focus on surveillance video over the course of the trial.
“You’re gonna see the evidence will show that that van (came) out of nowhere and sped up,” said defense attorney Steven Boozang.
The jury is set to see the aforementioned video and hear from McGrath’s nanny, as well as his sister, Thursday.
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