Leicester fatality shatters towns
Teenage victims had 'wonderful friendship'
Courtney Butcher could not wait to get home to Worcester for the weekend. The freshman at the University of New Hampshire was excited to see old friends, visit her large family, and watch yesterday's game between the Red Sox and Yankees from seats on the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
"This is going to be the best weekend," the 18-year-old had told her mother, Kathleen Dalve , days before Dalve last saw her. " 'I'm so looking forward to this.' "
Yesterday, Dalve, 48, recalled her daughter's excitement as she planned the funeral for the basketball standout and 2006 graduate of Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester. Butcher was killed in a car crash along with three other teenagers late Friday in Leicester. Another teenager in the car was injured.
The accident, which relatives believe occurred as the group rushed to beat a midnight curfew, has shattered the small, close-knit towns of Leicester and North Brookfield, where most of the victims lived. It was among the deadliest crashes in the state in the past 20 years.
Less than 24 hours later, Jonathan Lally , a 17-year-old senior at Pembroke High School apparently was speeding on Center Street when he crashed his car into a telephone pole and then a tree, Pembroke police said yesterday. Lally was pronounced dead at Brockton Hospital.
Lally was the seventh person killed over the weekend in four motor vehicle accidents in which police said speed may have been a factor in each. Alfred F. Nigro , 41, of Northbridge, was killed early Saturday when he lost control of his 2002 Jeep Liberty while driving north on Route 146 in Millbury.
Early Saturday, Ivan D. Dimitrov , 20, a Bulgarian national and MIT student, was killed after he lost control of his motorcycle on Storrow Drive.
Butcher was killed Friday when the driver of the 2007
The fifth person, Lauren Bennett , 17, of North Brookfield, broke her clavicle and was in stable condition yesterday at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, her mother said. Bennett remained sedated yesterday, as doctors continued to monitor her for internal injuries or brain swelling, Paula Bennett said.
"No scars on her face. She looks beautiful," she said. "I'm pretty sure she's going to be OK. She's a lucky girl."
Bennett said that her daughter has no idea that her friends are dead. One of them, Caron, had been her best friend since they were 4 years old. They played together on the basketball team at North Brookfield High School and had lamented what it might be like when they played against each other when they went to their respective colleges.
Bennett is expected to attend Curry College in Milton this fall. Caron had been accepted at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Bennett said.
"They had a wonderful, wonderful friendship," she said.
Visitors have streamed to the hospital and sat with Bennett in the intensive care unit, her mother said.
Many of the young visitors were friends of the victims and were particularly close to Caron, whose family declined to comment yesterday.
The visitors have taken comfort in keeping vigil over Bennett, her mother said.
"They needed to see the one that survived," Bennett said, "and tell her she needs to hang on, because Julie's friends need Lauren to help them get through her death."
All five teenagers in the Toyota Scion, which was Plaza's gift from his stepfather in advance of his expected graduation this spring from Leicester High School , had been wearing seat belts, police have said. None had been drinking, police said.
None of the victims' relatives interviewed by the Globe expressed anger at Plaza, who had driven his friends for ice cream at a Friendly's restaurant after watching Saturday's Sox game against the Yankees at Rossik's house.
"I'm never going to put a curfew on my kids. I'll just tell them to call when they're going to be late," Dalve said. "They were a great, great group of kids. They were probably just laughing and enjoying themselves."
Dalve said she wanted her daughter to be remembered for her compassion, her love for her family, which includes two brothers and three sisters, and her devotion to her friends, particularly Rossik, who was her date for the senior prom. A scholarship will be set up in Butcher's name at Doherty Memorial, Dalve said.
"She was my best friend," she said. "She was not just my daughter."
Rossik's parents told the Globe on Saturday that Plaza was like a member of the family. He came over often, usually unannounced and would walk in without knocking on the door. He was so comfortable at the Rossik's residence, he would help himself to food in the refrigerator.
"Sat on my couch, like he was my own kid," said Rossik's father, Joseph.
Rossik's parents described him as a bright, motivated young man, who was worshi ped by his two younger brothers and dreamed of becoming a doctor. He had been offered a scholarship to Assumption College in Worcester.
"He knew where he was going with his life and what he wanted to do," Joseph Rossik said. "We loved each other so much, and that's why this hurts so bad for a lot of people."
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. David Abel of the Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent John Guilfoil contributed to this report.
(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in Monday's City & Region section on a fatal car crash in Leicester incorrectly said the driver had watched Saturday's Red Sox game at his friend's house. They had watched Friday's game.)
