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Seekonk teen killed on I-195 crash was allegedly drinking with friends before crash

Print Posted by John Ellement January 7, 2011 05:47 PM

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George Rizer for the Boston Globe

Three Seekonk High School students were arraigned in Taunton District Court, charged with having an indirect role in the death of their friend, Jacob M. Mayo. From left to the right, they are Michael Poland, Nathan Dias and Jason McInerney. They pleaded not guilty.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Jacob M. Mayo and three Seekonk High School schoolmates drank alcohol and then walked from Mayo’s home into a wooded area along Interstate 195 where all four tossed branches and chunks of wood onto the highway – an act of vandalism that authorities said today cost Mayo his life.

George Rizer for the Boston Globe

Katelynn Johnson

The disclosure that the four teenagers were drinking was made in Taunton District Court today where Mayo’s three schoolmates were arraigned on a variety of charges linked to Mayo’s death on Dec. 17 when he was struck by a car while walking in the right hand traffic lane on I-195 around 11:30 p.m.

According to Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutters’s office, Katelynn Johnson of Rhode Island was driving on I-195 hit a piece of wood tossed onto the road and then struck Mayo. Mayo was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“Ms. Johnson ran over wood debris just before striking Mr. Mayo, who was standing in the right hand travel lane of the highway at the time of impact,’’ Sutter’s office said in a statement.

Johnson is charged with leaving the scene after causing personal injury. She pleaded not guilty in Taunton where bail was set at $1,000 cash.

Earlier today, police went to Seekonk High School and took three students into custody.

The three teens were identified as Nathan Dias, Jason McInerney, and Michael Poland. All three are 17 years old and students at Seekonk High School where Mayo was a popular senior, a three-sport athlete and the winner of an Abigail Adams college scholarship for academics.

Prosecutors said the four teens walked from Mayo's home on North Wheaton Avenue on the night of Dec. 17 and then made their way to the interstate where they picked up branches and chunks of wood at random and threw them onto the highway.

“It’s very upsetting and shocking. It can’t be anything other than that,’’ said Seekonk Schools Superintendent Madeline Meyer who knew Mayo and knows the three students arrested today. “It saddens me to think that kids in my high school would be in such dangerous play.’’

The teens pleaded not guilty and bail was set $2,5000 cash for each. They each are charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, trespassing on a state highway, throwing an object onto a state highway, malicious destruction of personal property over $250. and attempt to commit a crime, according to Sutter’s office.

Meyer said that like Mayo, Dias was on the high school basketball team. Poland is a member of the ice hockey team. McInerney is not participating in high school sports, she said.

Meyer said she was alerted by police that they were going to arrest the teenagers at school today, but she said police have not briefed her on the results of their investigation.

The students were taken into custody around 10:30 a.m. today, Meyer said. She said they were not handcuffed as they left the building.

She also said students have been grieving for Mayo, and have not been talking about the alleged roles his fellow students had in his death.

“He was a very popular child and really someone that the kids looked up to,’’ Meyer said. “So, the chatter has been minimal in terms of what happened that night, and how it happened.’’

Meyer said counselors and teachers have been talking with students since Mayo’s death and will continue to do so, especially with today’s arrest.

“It’s very sad,’’ Meyer said. “Very sad.’’