Charges in Deadly Crash that Killed Medford Native
The woman accused in a Florida crash that killed a Medford woman and her unborn child in March had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, police have told The Boston Globe.
In a story published May 10, police said Rosa Rivera Kim was speeding when her car crashed through the side of a hotel cabana, pinning Alanna DeMella.
DeMella, 26, and seven months pregnant, died at the scene, as did her unborn son, Joshua Edward. Her husband, Michael DeMella, survived with scrapes and bruises. DeMella taught in Arlington and was a teaching assistant at the Peirce Schoo.
Kim, who suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, was arrested Wednesday, May 9, on two counts of driving-under-the-influence and manslaughter and one count of DUI property damage.
The Globe quoted Michael Davis, lead pastor of GENESIS, the Woburn church the couple attended, as saying: ““Michael is not . . . filled with anger or vengeance or things like that. But he was excited to see that justice is being done. It’s certainly a piece on the road to healing.”
The crash happened on a Sunday afternoon, less than two hours after the couple checked into the Riverside Hotel, a ritzy inn along Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard. They had been in Florida attending a Christian marriage conference, a gift from their church and a last hurrah before the birth of their son.
The Globe reported that Kim, 34, of Plantation, Fla., and her husband were having lunch nearby at Mangos Restaurant and Lounge, where police said she ordered a drink during the meal, which was cut short when the couple got into an argument. Then she got behind the wheel of her silver 2006 Audi and sped west on Southeast Fourth Street “in excess of the posted speed limit of 25” miles per hour, according to the Globe’s account of the arrest report.
Kim made it several blocks before crashing into the cabana.
At the time of the incident, Kim’s blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent over the legal limit, Detective DeAnna Garcia of the Fort Lauderdale police said in a press release.
Kim was being held in the Broward County Main Jail Wednesday on $20,000 bond.
It is unclear why it has taken seven weeks to bring the charge.