Thursday, 4:30 PM
Somerville man gets prison time for running over teenager
By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff
A 20-year-old Somerville man was sentenced today to six to eight years in prison for running over an Everett teenager.
Nadler Ducasse will get credit for nearly three years in jail awaiting trial. He was convicted last month of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death in connection with a 2004 incident in Somerville.
Prosecutors, who wanted 15 to 20 years in prison, said Ducasse intentionally ran down Juan Castro Avelar, 15, and also hit a 16-year-old on Sturtevant Street. Ducasse believed that Avelar had earlier vandalized his white Honda Civic, prosecutors said. A witness said he saw something flying through the air and discovered that it was Avelar, who landed underneath another car.
According to a police report, the car that struck Avelar sped away on Interstate 93 north. After Ducasse pulled over, he told a State Police trooper that someone threw a rock at his windshield, according to the report. When the trooper asked Ducasse about blood on the windshield, Ducasse admitted swerving on to the sidewalk "in an attempt to scare" Avelar, according to the report, but said he didn't mean to hit him.
