BOSTON (WHDH) - A Dorchester woman accused of dragging her cousin to death over the weekend faced a judge Tuesday in front of a courtroom packed with emotional family members.
Brianna Smith, 26, is accused of getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk and dragging her 29-year-old cousin, Cusandra Webb, as she tried to get into the vehicle following an incident near Victoria Diner early Sunday morning.
Prosecutors said Smith took the wheel of Webb’s car when she hit a dumpster following a night of drinking. Smith allegedly drove away, dragging Webb as she held on to the car.
When Webb finally fell to the street, prosecutors said she was struck by a taxi cab in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Pompeii Street.
Smith is charged with motor vehicle homicide, an offense that her mother believes should be pinned on the cab driver.
“It’s an accident, okay. And that is her cousin. I wish everybody would stop acting like they were not related because they were related,” Smith’s mother, Kimberly Allen told reporters. “It’s her blood cousin and it was an accident. She did not drag her and my cousin was not dragged. The cab hit her and he ran over her. That’s how she succumbed to her injuries.”
Smith’s lawyer argued that Webb was not dragged and that she died from being struck by the cab driver.
“Again, my daughter did not kill her cousin,” Allen said.
Smith was ordered held on $25,000 bail.
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