WORCESTER – The driver of the car that struck and killed a 13-year-old girl on Belmont Street in June faces a charge of negligent homicide, police said.
Javier Martinez, 44, was also issued summonses for endangering traffic, negligent driving, failure to observe pedestrians and speeding, police said.
Gianna Rose Simoncini was killed in the accident while crossing the street in the area of 370 Belmont St., between Plantation Street and Lake Avenue.
Martinez, who was driving a Honda Acura, remained at the scene after the accident.
The accident occurred on June 27 at approximately 2:30 p.m. on a busy stretch of Belmont Street (Route 9) near UMass Memorial Medical Center. There is no crosswalk on a long stretch of this stretch of road.
A month later, another 13-year-old girl, Ayeun Leet, was hit by a car on Shrewsbury Street.
The driver of the accident, 18-year-old Van Nguyen, was charged with endangering road traffic, speeding and failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians on the road.
These two and other accidents prompted politicians and the public to review issues of road safety and speed limits on the city’s streets.
On August 1, City Manager Eric D. Batista and Mayor Joseph M. Petty declared that the city was experiencing a “traffic safety and traffic violence crisis.”
Return to telegram.com for more information on this story.
