Lowell man charged for Jamaica Plain crash that injured woman, killed fetus

A Suffolk County grand jury indicted a 23-year-old Lowell man for allegedly causing a collision in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood that injured a pregnant woman and killed her unborn child, the district attorney’s office announced Monday.

Luis Bermudez Torres allegedly sped more than 100 mph on the Jamaicaway while driving away from a separate collision, prosecutors said in a press release. 

Torres was arraigned Monday in Suffolk Superior Court, where he faces charges of manslaughter, reckless motor vehicle homicide, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, court records show.

Judge Edward Curley held Torres on a $50,000 cash bail on the condition he does not drive a motor vehicle, court records show. 

An attorney for Torres declined to comment when reached.

Torres and his girlfriend left an event at Franklin Field on Aug. 17, according to prosecutors. Around 10 p.m., Torres rear-ended another vehicle with his 2016 Honda Accord while going north on the Jamaicaway, the DA’s office said.

Torres then “panicked” and drove away from the crash “at increasing speeds,’ the release said. According to the vehicle’s data recorder, Torres drove at 103 mph before the second crash, which is far above the posted 25 mph at the crash site, prosecutors said.

While on a curve, Torres lost control of his vehicle and crossed the median, prosecutors said. He then collided head-on with a car that was being driven by a 39-year-old pregnant woman with her brother as a passenger.

The collision killed the woman’s 26-week-old fetus, which was a boy, prosecutors said. The woman suffered blunt force trauma and a fractured wrist. 

Torres’ girlfriend suffered “substantial injuries,” while Torres suffered a laceration to his leg, the release said. The pregnant woman’s brother was not injured.

The grand jury indicted Torres on Friday, and police arrested him Monday morning in Boxford.

Torres’ next court date is a pre-trial conference on Nov. 2.

“The circumstances here point to terribly reckless actions that have caused enormous heartbreak,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in the release. “The fact that this woman was doing nothing more than driving on a summer evening just magnifies the tragedy.”