"Girl, 7, killed by SUV on Dorchester sidewalk; Mother seriously injured; driver to face charges" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff, November 27, 2013
A 7-year-old girl was killed and her mother was seriously injured Tuesday when an out-of-control sport utility vehicle hit the two on a Dorchester sidewalk, Boston police said.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Olivia Mora, 36, of Concord, N.H., will face charges of motor vehicle homicide and driving under the influence, police said.
The tragedy happened on Olney Street about 2:15 p.m., as the girl and her mother were walking from the direction of the Holland Elementary School, just a block away, according to police.
Mora was traveling at a high rate of speed — “She was flying,” police Superintendent in Chief Daniel Linskey told reporters at the scene — when she struck a parked Acura, continued onto the curb, knocked down a hydrant, struck the mother and daughter, and then crashed through a fence and into a dirt yard.
Horrific footage shot with an iPhone immediately after the accident shows the girl crumpled facedown in the dirt, next to the rear wheel of the white Chevrolet Suburban that Mora allegedly was driving.
The girl was wearing a purple winter coat and had a pink backpack, and a woman assisting her gently loosened a pink scarf from around the girl’s neck.
The mother was lying near the front driver’s side wheel, where she had been thrown into a fence.
Witnesses said she suffered severe injuries to her arms and legs, and was unable to speak, but kept trying to make her way to her child. In the footage, she can be seen reaching out, toward her daughter.
“She was trying to get to her baby, but she couldn’t move,” said T.T. Brown, who lives a half-block away and rushed to the scene.
“She wasn’t saying anything. She was just trying to get to her baby.”
Police say there are reports that Mora first hit a vehicle on Geneva Avenue before speeding down Olney Street, busy with young students at that time of day.
The Holland Elementary School, which serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade, gets out at 2 p.m., according to the school’s website.
Ibrantino Alves, 24, who lives at 43 Olney St., and owns the Acura heavily damaged in the initial collision, rushed outside when he heard the crash. He said the driver was dazed, and did not appear to know what was going on. He said the driver tried to back out, but the vehicle was stuck in the dirt. Had she been able to back out, Alves said, she would have run over the child again.
“Her whole reaction when she got out of the car was just dumbfounded,” Alves said.
“It took her a minute to process.”
The 7-year-old stopped breathing moments after the crash, according to Alves.
“I’ve never witnessed a little kid die in front of me,” he said.
“It’s an image you can’t get out of your head.”
The child was transported to Boston Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to Linskey. He said the mother suffered serious injuries.
Witnesses said that Mora tried to leave on foot but was restrained by several people. Police said that Mora did not appear injured.
The SUV that Mora was allegedly driving had the words “Media Soul” stenciled on the side and back, in what appeared to be a corporate logo.
According to documents filed by Mora with the New Hampshire secretary of state’s office, Media Soul is a “guerilla marketing” business created in 2004. The address is listed as 26 S. Main St., Concord, N.H....
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"Tangled picture of suspect in crash that killed girl" by Peter Schworm, Akilah Johnson and Wesley Lowery | Globe Staff, November 27, 2013
Nicole MacFarland was heading home to Fields Corner Tuesday morning when she spotted neighbor Olivia Mora. MacFarland’s uncle honked to get Mora’s attention, and Mora came over to say hello.
Mora’s slurred words and vacant look signaled that Mora had been drinking, MacFarland said Wednesday outside a Dorchester courtroom. “She was definitely under the influence,” she said.
Just hours later, their paths crossed again. Mora was behind the wheel of an SUV that sped down Olney Street, jumped the curb, and struck a mother and daughter walking home from school. Brianna Rosales, 7, was killed. Her mother, 26-year-old Glendalee Alvarado, was injured.
Mora, a 36-year-old with a long record of traffic violations, was drunk behind the wheel, law enforcement officials said. After the crash, she tried to back up and flee the scene, said MacFarland, who witnessed the accident. Other witnesses said the same.
Mora later failed three sobriety tests and refused a Breathalyzer test, according to authorities....
Mora was driving “like a bat out of hell” before the crash, MacFarland said.
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Mora pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Dorchester District Court to charges of motor vehicle homicide and causing bodily injury while operating under the influence. She stood out of view during the arraignment.
She was ordered held without bail as prosecutors described her as a convicted felon who had ties to other states, including California, where she is from. Her lawyer, Gerasimos Antzoulatos, denied that she was a flight risk, calling her “rooted in Boston.”
Antzoulatos said Mora had come to Massachusetts in 1999 to attend Babson College and graduated a few years later. She now lives in Dorchester with her 3-year-old daughter, he said.
Few details about Mora’s past emerged in court, but her senior year of high school was chronicled in a 2000 book about a program for gifted students at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, titled “And Still We Rise.”
According to the book, Mora was removed from her home when she was 12 because she was abused by her mother; by 16, Mora had lived in a dozen foster homes.
Is that supposed to be some kind of excuse?
“It takes a really special kid to come out of those circumstances. Just to get to college was beating the odds,” said Miles Corwin, the book’s author, who said he was heartbroken to hear of her involvement in the crash.
“I’ve only got positive things to say about her,” he said. “She was such a compelling story. That’s why this is so shattering.” Corwin said he had not spoken to Mora since she graduated from Babson.
In court, Mora’s lawyer argued she has eyesight problems that affect her depth perception. Mora told investigators that her car had “terrible tires” and lost traction, causing her to lose control of the car, according to Assistant District Attorney Masai King....
Mora “continuously denied” having had any alcohol that day, saying her last drink was at 10 p.m. the night before, according to a police report.
Mora, who has never held a Massachusetts license, has been cited multiple times for traffic violations such as speeding, improper equipment, seatbelt violation, and improper passing. More than once, she has also had her right to operate suspended.
The district attorney’s office said Mora was convicted in 2010 for larceny, and was charged with assault and battery in 2003, a case that was continued without a finding.
A former landlord on Dix Street in Dorchester said Mora had been a problem tenant and that he’d been forced to take her to housing court.
“She had this ability to come across as this sincere, educated, all together, emotionally stable person,” said Jonathan Shubow. But, at other times, he said, she exhibited odd behavior.
Shubow said Mora ran her business, Media Soul, while living in the apartment, and would hire college-aged people to pass out fliers for upcoming rap shows at clubs.
Molly no longer a problem because I've not seen much in the Globe lately.
Mora had helped with children’s art and music classes at a community center, according to her attorney....
I'm sure she is a great gal, but....
On Olney Street, grief and anger ran deep, as mourners stood by the memorial in the pouring rain. The fence that Mora allegedly struck remained in a crumpled heap, and the fire hydrant was overturned on the sidewalk.
Yvette Brown, who witnessed the crash, said the terrible image won’t leave her mind.
“Last night was a restless night,” she said. “Who speeds down a residential street with school buses? A little girl on the sidewalk, walking home from school. Tragic, for no reason.”
Laying among the candles and stuffed animals was a handwritten note left by a girl named Gabby, the ink blurring in the rain.
“Dear Brianna,” she wrote. “I hope you be OK. I miss you so much.”
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