Leverett woman pleads not guilty in fatal crash
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ORANGE A Leverett woman has been released on personal recognizance after answering to charges stemming from a fatal crash on Route 63 last April.
Mary Christine Nelson, 79, appeared in Orange District Court on March 12 via teleconference to plead not guilty to negligent operation of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. She is scheduled for a pretrial conference on May 18.
Kevin Douville, 57, of Belchertown, was killed on April 25, 2020, when the motorcycle he was riding with life partner Karen Rae Mercier was struck by a car driven by Nelson on Route 63, also known as Long Plain Road, the primary north-south artery between Montague and Amherst.
Leverett woman pleads not guilty in fatal crash
Related stories
ORANGE A Leverett woman has been released on personal recognizance after answering to charges stemming from a fatal crash on Route 63 last April.
Mary Christine Nelson, 79, appeared in Orange District Court on March 12 via teleconference and pleaded not guilty to negligent operation of a motor vehicle and motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. She is scheduled for a pretrial conference on May 18.
Kevin Douville, 57, of Belchertown, was killed on April 25, 2020, when the motorcycle he was riding with life partner Karen Rae Mercier was struck by a car driven by Nelson on Route 63, also known as Long Plain Road and the primary north-south artery between Montague and Amherst.
Elderly Leverett driver in fatal crash that killed Belchertown motorcyclist Kevin Douville arraigned on motor vehicle homicide charge
Updated Mar 17, 2021;
ORANGE - A 79-year-old Leverette woman on Tuesday entered an innocent plea at her arraignment on a motor vehicle homicide charge in the death of motorcyclist Kevin Douville.
Mary Christine Nelson was arraigned at Orange District Court via a teleconference call. In addition to motor vehicle homicide, she is also charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle.
She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court for a pretrial conference on May 18.
Karen Mercier, Douville’s partner for 32 year, was seriously injured in the crash.
Lawsuit filed in fatal Leverett crash
CREATAS CREATAS
NORTHAMPTON A Belchertown woman injured in a motorcycle crash on Route 63 in Leverett that killed her life partner last April has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in Hampshire Superior Court this month by Karen Mercier, personal representative of the estate of Kevin Douville, and seeks unspecified punitive damages from Mary Christine Nelson of Leverett, who was driving the car that collided with the motorcycle.
The lawsuit alleges wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, and gross negligence against Nelson, contending that her actions while driving in the opposite direction on the state highway last April 25 led to the crash.