A Suffolk Superior Court jury has found Charlene Casey guilty of negligent motor vehicle homicide in the July 2018 crash that killed 2-year-old Colin McGrath.
Casey, 67, faces up to 2.5 years in prison on the charge.
The jury found that Casey failed to yield the right of way to a van at the corner of East Sixth Street and L Street. She struck the van, damaging the vehicles steering column, which sent it careening onto the sidewalk into Colin and his 4-year-old sister, who were walking with a nanny.Read more: After crash killed 2-year-old Colin McGrath, his injured sister called to him, EMT testifies
First responders rushed the children to the hospital, Colin with internal injuries and his sister with broken bones and a lacerated liver.
During the trial, defense attorney Steven Boozang called the crash a tragic, freak, uncontrollable accident. He said the van came out of nowhere and sped up.
Following Wednesdays verdict, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden issued a statement.Related: I just kept talking to Colin, telling him we loved him, witness in death of 2-year-old boy recalls
While were grateful for the jurys decision, we are fully aware that no verdict can even begin to alleviate the grief the McGrath family and their loved ones will forever hold over the loss of Colin, Hayden said. This case was tragic and heartbreaking in every way.
Casey will be scheduled at a later date.
In Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Charlene Casey looks up during her arraignment on a motor vehicle homicide charge stemming from a 2018 crash in South Boston which claimed the life of then-two-year-old Colin McGrath, on Dec. 18, 2019. (Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe via Getty Images