DUI charge leveled in boy’s death in Holyoke
A 6-year-old Holyoke boy who was crossing the street near his home Friday afternoon died after being struck by a car that police say was driven by a drunk driver.
Police said Kyier Douchette was in a crosswalk on Holyoke Street with a friend at about 4:30 p.m. when Angel Ortiz, 34, of Chicopee, struck him with a Ford Explorer. The boy was returning from a nearby store and was only a block from home when he was hit, police said. He was taken to Holyoke Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Kyier’s friend was not injured, police said.
Ortiz was arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol, failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk while operating a motor vehicle, and driving with an open container. He was held at Hampden County Correctional Center on $50,000 bail as of Saturday, said Detective Sergeant Jim Albert of the Holyoke Police Department. He is scheduled for arraignment today at Holyoke District Court.
The boy’s family will be at the arraignment, said Collete Haskell, Kyier’s stepgrandmother.
If Ortiz was drunk, “I want him to get as much time as he can get,’’ said Haskell, who lives in Chicopee. “If it was truly an accident, I understand that. But if he was drunk, he needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, and we will be in court for the arraignment.’’
Haskell described her stepgrandson as “an active little 6-year-old’’ with five siblings.
“He would come over on the weekends to spend time with us. He was a good kid. He liked to play drums at church and he liked to play football,’’ she said.