Brockton man dies in Revere car crash

Bad curve, speed eyed in accident

A car crashed into a store early yesterday morning, killing a 20-year-old man. "There's a curve in the road just prior to that," said Captain Michael Murphy of the Revere Police Department. (GEORGE RIZER/GLOBE STAFF)

Zuri Taylor was a transplant, a young man who moved to the Boston area from Detroit about a year ago.

Yesterday, the 20-year-old man died when his car smashed into a store on Route 1A in Revere, said authorities and his girlfriend.

"He was trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life when he came to Massachusetts," said India Houston, 25, who also said that she is four months pregnant with Taylor's first child. "He was very friendly, very easy to talk to, and was a good guy. I loved him."

Taylor was driving his red Ford Mustang south on Route 1A (North Shore Road) and had just passed through the Revere Street intersection when he lost control and smashed into the front of A-Furniture, a store where on Wednesday workers had just started repairing damage from a November car crash.

The single car crash occurred at about 5:45 a.m., and police suspect speed was a factor.

"There's a curve in the road just prior to that," said Captain Michael Murphy of the Revere Police Department. "Certainly we are going to be looking at speed in our investigation because speed is often a factor in crashes in that area."

Store owner David Preble said the car crashed through the front windows of his store, damaging some inventory and possibly bringing a halt to repairs from last year's nonfatal crash.

He and other residents said motorists frequently drive too fast on the road, which has a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

"I don't know what can be changed," Preble said, "just the mentality of people driving."

Houston said she and Taylor were living together in Brockton and that he had been working a night shift at a Wal-Mart store there.

She said he was probably visiting relatives on the North Shore and was heading home at the time of the crash.

"He will definitely be missed," she said, adding that Taylor leaves an extensive family in Michigan.

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.