What to Know
- Selvin Manuel Lima, 23, of Lawrence, was arraigned Monday. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he was held without bail.
- The victim was identified Monday as Taysha Rohena Silva, 11, from Peabody; officials previously said the slain girl was eight years old.
- Taysha's 8-year-old sister, her 15-year-old cousin, her mother, and her mother's boyfriend remain hospitalized with "serious injuries."
The girl killed in a car crash in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Saturday was identified Monday as Taysha Rohena Silva, 11, from Peabody.
“It’s my daughter, I lost my daughter,” said a heartbroken Roberto Silva, who spoke exclusively with necn and NBC10 Boston after learning of his daughter Taysha’s death. “My daughter though, like she’s not gonna come back. Like I’m not gonna have my daughter back.”
Authorities had previously said the slain girl was eight years old.
“I feel it but it hasn’t hit me,” he said. “I have not seen face to face my daughter yet. At this point, I think it’s unreal. It’s unbelievable.”
Taysha's 8-year-old sister was also injured in the crash, along with Taysha's mother, the mother's boyfriend and Taysha's 15-year-old cousin. All four remain hospitalized in Boston "with serious injuries," according to a statement from the Essex District Attorney's Office.
The suspect in the crash, 23-year-old Selvin Manuel Lima of Lawrence, was arraigned from his hospital bed in the Intensive Care Unit at Brigham & Women's Hospital Monday afternoon, according to the Essex District Attorney's Office. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
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He is charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, operating after a license suspension and failing to stop for a police officer.
Lima was hospitalized with serious injuries after police say he collided head-on with a Honda Civic at about 6 p.m. near the intersection of Andover Street and Winthrop Avenue in Lawrence. He was arrested on Sunday.
Prosecuters said that, before the crash, Lima sped away from police as they attempted to pull him over for alleged erratic driving.
Graphic surveillance footage of the scene showed Lima’s white car slamming into the black Honda, sending it backward and crushing the front of both vehicles.
“I heard like, ‘Boom!’” said Rosa Palma, who works across the street from where the crash happened. “I was in shock. I called into 911 and said, ‘Send police and ambulances,’ something like that.”
Roberto says he’s not upset with the suspect who allegedly caused the crash that claimed his 11-year-old daughter’s life.
“I’m not mad at the guy, I really ain’t,” he said of Lima. “I don’t hold no remorse against him or anything like that. We’re all humans at the end of the day.”
Lima was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for July 18. He was represented at his arraignment by Attorney Eric Salach.
