A Maine Maritime student pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges related to a fatal crash in Castine last December that killed four of her classmates, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Noelle Tavares, 21, of Falmouth, Massachusetts, is charged with 13 counts, including four counts of manslaughter and criminal OUI, among other charges.
Tavares, who was 20-years-old at the time of the crash, was one of three people who survived, but she was not the driver. Joshua Goncalves-Radding of New York, who was driving the car, and Dominick Gecoya of Massachusetts, who owned the car, were indicted on the same charges.
Robert Granger, district attorney for Hancock County told the BDN that an eight-month investigation “uncovered additional evidence which the Grand Jury determined gave rise to probable cause to believe that Noelle Tavares aided in the unlawful conduct which directly contributed to the tragic crash and the deaths of the four young men.”
Speaking to the Press Herald, Granger declined to explain Tavares’ role in the crash but said she was an “accomplice or co-conspirator” and her role would become clearer if the case goes to trial. He said that Tavares was expected to post bail on Thursday.
State law allows criminal charges for those involved even if they weren’t driving under a provision known as accomplice liability. Past convictions compiled by the Press Herald involved drivers who had handed over the keys of their vehicles to people who were ultimately killed in a crash.
The crash occurred just after 2 a.m. on Dec. 10, 2022. Seven students were in the vehicle traveling south on Route 166 when it left the roadway and hit a tree before “erupting into flames,” Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said at the time.
Goncalves-Radding was estimated to be driving between 106 and 111 mph at the time, Granger said previously.
Killed in the crash were Brian Kenealy, 20, of York; Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner; Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Massachusetts; and Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, Massachusetts.
Charges against Gecoya, the owner of the car, were dismissed after his indictment.
“The known facts that developed during the on-going investigation no longer supported felony counts against him as owner of the vehicle,” Granger said. “A dismissal was appropriate in the interest of justice.”