The one-car accident on the McGrath Highway overpass around 3:30 a.m. Friday morning reminded State Police Trooper Aleksandro Fontes of a “combat zone.”
The scene was dripping in blood and chunks of brain matter were visible in the white Chevrolet Malibu and stuck to one of the young men’s T-shirts, he recalled. One of the young women was already dead and another would die days later. The other three passengers were in shock, and the driver was screaming and pulling at his hair, sitting on the curb.
Somerville resident Kenneth Belew, 21, has been charged with two counts of motor vehicular homicide, negligent operation, operating under the influence of liquor and speeding.
On Monday, dozens of Belew’s friends and supporters turned out for his arraignment at Somerville District Court, but Belew decided to spend the hearing in the court’s jail. He was held on $5,000 cash bail.
According to Fontes’ report, Belew drove with his 21-year-old friend Jerry Altidor to a house party thrown by Rudolph Reis, a 20-year-old Somerville resident whose parents were out of town. Reis told Belew that he and three young women wanted a ride to McDonalds after the party, and Belew agreed to give them a ride.
Reis’ girlfriend Isabela Da Silva sat in the backseat on his lap and Mayara Alves, a young woman who had run away from her home four months earlier, was on 19-year-old Rafaela Pereira’s lap, according to reports. At the request of prosecutors, the names of the two deceased women have been redacted from the police report, but authorities identified them later in the day.
When they first got into the car, Pereira said he thought Belew was sober enough to drive, but on the roughly 2-mile journey to the McDonalds near Brickbottom, Belew was driving too fast and changing lanes erratically, Pereira told police.
Then on the McGrath Highway overpass above Washington Street, Belew suddenly slammed on the brakes and car spun out, slamming into the concrete sidewall. The teens who had been sitting on laps were not wearing seatbelts and were killed by the impact, though one survived in grave condition for a few days at Massachusetts General Hospital.
When Fontes arrived at the scene, Reis was covered in blood holding one unconscious woman with another unconscious woman next to him. Altidor was staring up at the sky with chunks of what appeared to be brain matter on his shirt, according to Fontes’ report.
Belew was sitting on the curb, bleeding from the head with two swollen eyes, screaming and pulling at his hair.
“I was driving and I am drunk! I am responsible for her death. Please take me to jail. That’s what I deserve,” Belew was yelling, according to Fontes. After he was read his Miranda rights, however, Belew did not give police a statement and kept demanding to be taken directly to jail.
Altidor later told police that Belew had drank at least three or four shots and split a pitcher of beer.
Before leaving the Magoun Square party around 3 a.m., 21-year-old Cassandra Corona spoke to Belew and said he told her he would walk home, because he lives nearby on Fiske Avenue, Corona said in an interview outside the courtroom.
“He said, ‘Why would I drive when I can walk right around the corner,’” Corona said. She described him as a generous person, who she said had acted responsibly by limiting himself to one drink when driving, on a recent occasion. “Kenny’s the type of person who doesn’t say ‘no’ to anybody.”
Belew has a history of car-related troubles, dating back to a year-and-a-half after receiving his license according to court and Registry of Motor Vehicles records. Not including his most recent charges, Belew has 40 entries on his driving history, dating back to January 2008.
In May 2008, Belew was busted for running a red light on Broadway, around midnight and for driving with a suspended license. The officer noted that there were blunt cigars – often used to smoke marijuana – and Belew’s eyes were bloodshot, but he did not face an operating under the influence charge.
A little more than a month later, Belew was again busted for driving with a suspended license, in Union Square. In both cases he pleaded there were sufficient facts to prove him guilty.
Mark Moss, a Billerica man, whose son and nephew are close friends with Belew said the young man described him as generous, smart and had demonstrated responsible behavior in regards to drinking. When Belew turned 21 on April 10, he hit the town but left his car behind, Moss said. In another instance, Belew had called Moss to tell him his son would be spending the night because he had too much to drink.
“This kid Kenny is a super nice kid,” said Moss at the courthouse Monday morning. “I don’t know why he got in a car that night.”
A 2008 graduate of Somerville High School, Belew had worked at a restaurant and a security company, and was attending Bunker Hill Community College fulltime, said his court-appointed attorney Emily Karstatter.
In his high school yearbook, Belew wrote that he wants to be an engineer; Moss said he was hoping to become a lawyer. Karstetter said he hoped to transfer to the University of Massachusetts.
Less than three weeks before the accident, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone made a presentation at SHS about the dangers of drunk driving. None of the passengers were current SHS students, according to the school’s Twitter.
Grief counseling is available at the high school but no specific announcement was made about the tragic accident, city spokesman Jackie Rossetti said. School Committee member Mark Niedergang said he is at a loss for what could be done to prevent drunk driving tragedies from happening in the future.
Moss was similarly frustrated as he comforted others who had turned out for Belew’s arraignment.
“It’s a tragedy for everyone. I just can’t imagine how he’s going to get through this,” said Moss. “We preach to these kids about drinking and driving…”
Belew, a slim 5-foot 10-inch tall man with close-cropped black hair, according to his booking sheet, is due back in court on May 17 for a pre-trial conference.
Read more: Somerville man arraigned for drunk driving tragedy on McGrath Highway - Somerville, Massachusetts 02144 - Somerville Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x215604794/Somerville-man-arraigned-for-drunk-driving-tragedy-on-McGrath-Highway#ixzz1KdfxsWCy
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