A woman was arraigned Thursday on charges she killed a man with her with a SUV, then drove off, in East Boston in May.
Gabriella Mendez, a 32-year-old from Chelsea, appeared in court to face charges including motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation and leaving the scene of a crash causing injury or death in the death of 58-year-old pedestrian Alan Martel, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
Mendez is accused of hitting the pedestrian while driving on Bennington Street on May 12, and then leaving the scene without stopping. Martel, the pedestrian, died of his injuries more than a week later, on May 26.
Mendez was employed as a bus driver for the MBTA, NBC10 Boston has learned. The T said she never drove a bus after the incident, and was suspended without pay a month after it took place.
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She didn't respond to questions outside of court on Thursday.
Martel was walking on Bennington Street near Meridian Street shortly before midnight when he was hit, authorities have said.
"He got run over like a piece of trash," said Ed Sarro, a friend of Martel's, on Thursday.
Another driver followed the Hyundai Santa Fe after watching it hit Martel and called 911, according to authorities. Police went to her home but was told that, while she was the primary driver of the SUV, she hadn't come home.
The next morning, detectives spoke with her at work and saw the vehicle, which belongs to her mother, with a damaged front and side mirror, officials said. She allegedly told police she left the scene because she was scared.
Surveillance video showed the moments Martel was struck. The SUV had its lights off, despite it being 11:50 p.m., officials said, and the vehicle didn't stop, instead running a red light down the road.
Mendez is believed to have been holding a cellphone while she was driving at the time she hit allegedly hit Martel.
"No text message, phone call or app is worth the lives and safety of our neighbors," Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "The harm that can be inflicted through the decision to prioritize a device over safety – even for only a moment – can never be undone."
During her appearance in the East Boston Division of Boston Municipal Court Thursday, Mendez was given $500 bail and a curfew, prosecutors said.
Sarro wondered why it took so long for Mendez to appear in court.
"She's been out the whole time, not even arrested," he said.
Another friend of the victim, Billy Travalgia, has previously told NBC10 Boston that Martel worked with him as a livery driver for a cab service.
"He’s a good friend," Travalgia said. He said he only found out about the crash when he got a call to come into work the morning after the crash.
