Pawtucket woman sentenced to jail in crash that killed friend

REHOBOTH, Mass. (WLNE) — The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said Monday that a Pawtucket woman was sentenced to jail in a crash that killed her friend last year.

The single-car crash happened on Jan. 16, 2021, on Interstate 195 in Rehoboth.

District Attorney Thomas Quinn said that 27-year-old Zeyra Martinez was driving her father’s 2010 Honda Pilot east on I-195 when she lost control of the car.

The Honda Pilot slid off the road sideways and into a median and began to rollover, throwing her friend — 25-year-old Emerizialina Moreira — out of the car, said Quinn.

The district attorney said that a person who called 911 saw Martinez standing in the median. But when Massachusetts State Police arrived on scene, they found her sitting in the passenger seat.

“The defendant told the first trooper to arrive on scene that her friend had been driving,” noted Quinn in a release Monday.

Troopers said they smelled alcohol coming from the 27-year-old and that she seemed “disoriented.”

Both women were taken to Rhode Island Hospital. Moreira was placed on life support and was pronounced dead two weeks later.

Quinn said Martinez’s blood alcohol content was .21. The two women were returning to Rhode Island when the crash happened.

The district attorney said it was initially reported that Moreira was the driver of the Honda Pilot. However, a few days after the crash, Martinez texted the victim’s sister where she admitted that she was driving at the time of the crash.

“The defendant also made similar statements to other friends.  In addition, the defendant also gave a recorded statement to Allstate Insurance Co. that she was operator of the car at the time of crash,” said Quinn.

Martinez was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in the Bristol County House of Corrections, with 18 months to serve and the balance suspended for two years.