Man accused of drunk driving in fatal South Boston crash says car malfunctioned
The lawyer for a man accused of driving drunk and hitting and killing a recent college graduate in South Boston says his car malfunctioned.
Listening through an interpreter, Francisco Romero faced a judge Tuesday. The 47-year-old faces a number of charges including OUI manslaughter after the car he was driving struck and killed 27-year-old Noah Greany who was walking across Southampton Street in South Boston back in January.
Suspect "veered across" the road
"Mr. Romero was traveling at a high rate of speed and veered across the double yellow lanes into the wrong side of the road," the prosecutor said. "At that time, Noah Greany, age 27, was walking home from Dunkin Donuts across Southampton Street and was fatally struck by Mr. Romero."
Prosecutors say Romero was driving drunk at the time of the crash. After he struck Greany, Romero's Mitsubishi crashed into a bar and restaurant called Small Victories in Andrew Square.
His defense attorney argued Romero had a few drinks the night before during dinner at home. The next morning, he was on his way to work and says the car malfunctioned.
"He told me that he could not brake his car, that his car could not brake," Romero's defense attorney said. "It appears that the car is obeying traffic laws, going fine, and then all of a sudden it doesn't."
Carla Romero is the mother of two of Francisco's kids. "Only God knows his heart. I feel bad for the family and only God will give the family the peace because I know he didn't want to do it," Romero said.
Victim's family setting up foundation
Outside the courthouse Greany's family members embraced each other, devastated over his death.
"We feel like we are in purgatory, we're still trying to process the loss of a 27-year-old man that had his world ahead of him," his uncle Paul Lambalot said.
The family says Greany graduated Northeastern University with a degree in cellular and molecular biology and had big dreams of how he wanted to cure cancer. Now they plan to establish the Noah Curtis Greany Foundation.
"He told his parents he was going to cure cancer one day and so now hopefully through the foundation, the Noah Curtis Greany Foundation that we're going to establish, we will be able to help him reach those dreams," Lambalot said.
Romero is being held on $100,000 cash bail. He's due back in court on May 2 for a probable cause hearing.
