INVESTIGATION INTO FATAL SOUTH BOSTON CRASH COMPLETE; OFFICER WILL NOT BE CHARGED July 16, 2008 A nine-month investigation into the Nov. 10, 2007, crash that killed 36-year-old Ann-Marie McNally has led authorities to determine that criminal charges are not warranted against the Boston Police officer who survived the collision, but it has prompted Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley to urge additional police training “so that … not one more family goes through what her loved ones have suffered.” State Police homicide detectives assigned to Conley’s office responded to the scene and conducted numerous interviews with police and civilian witnesses to the collision and its aftermath in the hours, days, and weeks that followed. They went on to review extensive reports by State Troopers assigned to the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, medical and autopsy reports, internal documents provided by the Boston Police Department, and additional evidence. That investigation was performed in conjunction with senior Suffolk prosecutors experienced in motor vehicle homicide law. “The investigation was thorough and exacting,” Conley said. “While it did not develop evidence sufficient to charge the officer criminally, the facts make clear that certain specific training is necessary to ensure that responding officers do not present a danger greater than the one they’re approaching.” The investigation showed that Officer Jesse Stots was stationed at D Street and Cypher Street in South Boston at approximately 1:00 p.m. when he responded to a radio call for an officer in trouble and a man with a knife at 8 Orton Marotta Way. Stots was not aware that multiple officers were already on-scene when he drove his marked cruiser southwest on D Street toward and ultimately through the West Broadway intersection. His lights and sirens were activated and he was driving at just over 50 miles per hour. The investigation also showed that McNally was simultaneously travelling southeast on West Broadway toward D Street. Her Saab entered the intersection, hesitated, and then began to proceed just as the cruiser entered the intersection. Witnesses told investigators that Stots’ cruiser appeared to swerve in a bid to avoid a collision but struck the driver’s side door of McNally’s vehicle, causing massive injuries that killed the South Boston woman. Conley was emphatic that McNally had no culpability in the crash that took her life. “The evidence is clear that Ms. McNally acted cautiously and reasonably and bears no responsibility for the collision,” he said. Whether Stots had a red or green light was the subject of intense scrutiny, with conflicting accounts given by different witnesses during the course of the investigation. Many witnesses, focused on the crash itself, were simply unable to offer any definitive statement as to which vehicle had the red or green signal. What investigators could determine was that Stots was driving at a high rate of speed while en route to a serious radio call, which the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has viewed as a mitigating factor when considering negligence. Following meetings with McNally’s family members and their attorney, David Eisenstadt, Conley today notified Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis of his findings, urging the Boston Police Department to review its policies related to emergency calls to ensure the safety of civilian motorists. Specifically, he suggested that the Department review training for new and experienced officers, policies on red lights and intersections, communication between cruisers and dispatchers, and the potential use of dashboard cameras in cruisers. “The McNally family, and everyone who knew Ann-Marie, must live with her loss forever,” Conley said. “We owe it to them to do everything we can so that some positive, meaningful change can arise from their tragic loss and not one more family goes through what her loved ones have suffered.” Return to the Press Releases page.