PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Marshfield man who was drunk and high behind the wheel when he crashed his car in Pembroke in 2019, killing a 13-year-old girl and seriously injuring two others, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
A Plymouth Superior Court judge handed 36-year-old Gregory Goodsell the sentence after a jury last month found him guilty of murder in the second degree, motor vehicle manslaughter while operating under the influence, leaving the scene of property damage, and two counts of OUI causing serious bodily injury.
The judge’s 20-year sentence in the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center was for the charge of murder, while Goodsell was also given lesser sentences for the other offenses he was found guilty of.
If Goodsell is ever released on parole, the judge prohibited him from applying to have his driver’s license reinstated, ordered him to take part in 50 hours of yearly community service and to stay away from the families of the victims as terms under five years of probation.
On Dec. 29, 2019, Goodsell got drunk and high at a company Christmas party before he got behind the wheel of a company Ford F-250 truck around 6:40 a.m. and drove at speeds of up to 95 mph, according to the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.
Minutes later, at about 6:50 a.m., Goodsell collided with a Subaru driven by 55-year-old Elizabeth Zisserson on Route 139 in Pembroke. Zisserson’s 13-year-old daughter, Claire, and her friend, 13-year-old Kendall Zemotel, were in the back seat at the time of the crash.
The collision killed Claire Zisserson and caused significant injuries to Elizabeth and Zemotel.
Before Goodsell learned his fate, Claire’s mother, father, and brother delivered emotional impact statements in front of the court.
“My world changed the day that Claire was killed,” Elizabeth Zisserson, Claire’s mother told the court. “I don’t recognize the person I am today, versus the one I used to be. I was a super-busy Mom juggling sports, scouts, carpools, school projects, away games and everything else in daily life.”
“After Claire died, I didn’t want to live,” Elizabeth Zisserson said as she wiped away tears. “The ache of Claire’s loss is overwhelming to me.”
Ken Zisserson, Claire’s father, said his family holds him back from driving on the anniversary of the crash.
He said that in the days after the crash, well-meaning people would use the phrase ‘I can’t even imagine,’ which he didn’t know how to respond to.
But he does now: “I reply, you shouldn’t have to. It’s not natural,” he said.
Zisserson used that phrase over and over again in his victim impact statement, as he described the day Claire was killed.
“It’s not natural to get a phone call that there was a car crash on a lazy Sunday morning,” he said. “It’s not natural to be told on the way to the hospital not to worry about parking the car. That’s when I knew it was serious.”
Zisserson said it was not natural to see his daughter motionless on an imaging board nor to be handed a pen to sign a form approving Claire as an organ donor.
“It was a symbolic moment that all hope was lost and Claire was not coming home,” he said. “It’s not natural to watch your daughter’s last breaths, as the hospital slowly allowed her to pass away from her injuries.”
Theodore Zisserson added, “It was only after your death that I was able to understand how incredible you were at everything you did. You were murdered. Murdered.”
Goodsell himself then stood up and broke down as he addressed the court.
“For the amount of pain that I have caused, both emotionally and physically, how could I possibly think saying sorry for my actions that morning is good enough for anybody involved in this absolutely devasting tragic accident?” Goodsell said as he read from a prepared statement. “Because of my out-of-control mindset and chaotic behavior that entire night, a young lady with a bright future is no longer alive.”
Goodsell continued, “Nobody should ever have to attempt to live through the pain that I’ve caused to all these people through my careless, destructive behavior...If I could go back to that day and die, instead of Claire, I would in a heartbeat.”
While at the Christmas party, Goodsell said he “allowed himself to become completely vulnerable to any situation that arose.”
“I shamefully take responsibility for what happened,” Goodsell added. “The constant nightmares, never being able to sleep because of what I did that morning, that is something that I will carry with me for the remainder of my life...Sorry is an understatement. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
Goodsell was a former employee at Hi-Way Safety Systems and reportedly was no stranger to driving infractions, racking up 35 offenses before the deadly crash.
At the time of the crash, investigators said Goodsell had a BAC of 0.266 and was under the influence of cocaine as he passed through a red light at 67 mph before broadsiding the Subaru.
Police found a bottle of whiskey, a beer can, two nip bottles, marijuana, and a pipe in his vehicle as well.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz released a statement after Goodsell was sentenced, saying, “Every decision comes with a consequence, and if Gregory Goodsell had made several different choices that fateful night, Claire would still be with us today. I am hopeful these two families and all that had their lives torn apart by this horrific crash can start to heal a bit, and feel some sense of closure with this sentencing.”
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