An off-duty Boston Police officer who struck and killed a teenager with his Jeep last month will not face criminal charges, Massachusetts State Police announced Friday.
The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on March 9 on Brush Hill Road in Milton, Massachusetts. Warren Hoppie, 44, a 20-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, reportedly tried to swerve to avoid 18-year-old Katelisa Etienne, a high school senior. Etienne was taken to Boston Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.
State police said Friday that the investigation into the crash determined that criminal charges are not warranted as Hoppie could not have avoided striking Etienne with his 2015 Jeep Wrangler.
The investigation determined that Hoppie "was not impaired, was not using his cell phone at the time of the crash, and was not driving at an excessive speed."
Witnesses told police that Etienne entered the roadway from behind a parked vehicle and was mostly obscured from the view of oncoming motorists.
State police and representatives from the district attorney's office met with Etienne's family on Thursday to explain the findings.
Etienne was just months away from graduating from Milton High School and had intended to go to Curry College. She was killed on her way to tutor kids at an after-school program in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood.
