LAWRENCE, Mass. — A Lawrence woman accused of motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly crash that killed two men who were on their way to work on Interstate 495 over the weekend faced a judge on Monday.
Katrina Nguyen, 26, of Lawrence, was held on $200,000 bail following her arraignment in Lawrence District Court, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said. Prosecutors had sought $500,000 cash bail.
Nguyen pleaded not guilty to two counts of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation; leaving the scene resulting in death, leaving the scene resulting in personal injury, leaving the scene resulting in property damage, and driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license, Tucker said.
Two Worcester men, Celso Glayson Dias, 37, and Kenny Roberto de Oliveira Alves Milanez, 41, were killed in the crash on I-495 in Methuen on Saturday morning, Tucker said.
Two other men were also injured in the crash. One has been released from the hospital, while the other was undergoing surgery Monday afternoon.
As Nguyen’s family tearfully listened in the courtroom, a prosecutor alleged that Nguyen had been drinking Friday night into Saturday morning at a bar and a Halloween party.
The prosecutor said sometime around 6 a.m., Nguyen crashed her SUV, a 2014 Acura MDX, into a pickup truck on I-495 that was carrying four men on their way to work Saturday morning.
The force of the crash pushed the pickup truck into the median and into a tree.
After the crash, Nguyen allegedly drove off the exit, abandoned her car and took an Uber home.
She turned herself into Lawrence police, six hours later.
“She said she recalled seeing a white pick up truck next to her vehicle. She said at one point the white pick up truck passed her and then she said that the crash happened, her air bags had deployed. However she doesn’t recall how the crash occurred, she indicated she was driving straight,” prosecutor Jessica Fleet said in court.
Both of the victims’ wives attended this arraignment.
Speaking through a translator, they told Boston 25 that they want Nguyen held accountable.
“I’ll be praying for her, but I also want justice to be served, so she knows what she did, and nothing like this happens again to anybody else,” said Luciana Milanez.
Lorena Santana was married to victim Celso Dias. She hopes Nguyen will change her life.
“I want my God to touch her heart and change her heart,” Santana said.
Around 6:12 a.m. Saturday, police responded to a crash in the area of I-495 North, north of Route 213 in Methuen, Tucker said.
When emergency crews arrived, they found people trapped in a heavily-damaged 2015 Ford F-250 pickup truck.
Dias, who was one occupant of the truck, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another occupant, Milanez, was taken by ambulance to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, Tucker said.
Nguyen is slated to return for a virtual court pretrial hearing on Nov. 26.
The fatal crash investigation involved the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, police in Methuen, Lawrence and Haverhill, and state police detectives assigned to Tucker’s office.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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