Wellesley woman convicted in crash that killed Needham teens
A jury has convicted a 56year-old woman of motor vehicle homicide but acquitted her of manslaughter in connection to a 2018 crash in Needham that killed two high school students who were walking across a street, according to prosecutors and court records.
Jurors delivered the split verdict on Monday in Norfolk Superior Court in the case against Dania Antoine-Guiteau, of Wellesley, according to District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey’s office.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 9.
Lawyers for Antoine-Guiteau declined to comment.
The Feb. 10, 2018, crash claimed the lives of Needham High School juniors Talia Newfield, 16, and Adrienne Garrido, 17, who were hit as they crossed Webster Street near their school. Antoine-Guiteau and Robert Berry, of Needham, both struck the girls separately with their vehicles, authorities have said.
“We are relieved that this person is being held accountable for causing Talia’s death, and grateful to the prosecutors who persevered in this case,” Newfield’s father, Craig, said in a statement after Monday’s verdict. “We love Talia so much, and we miss her every day.”
Berry, 70, is slated to stand trial in February.
He initially struck both victims with his Cadillac while they were in a crosswalk, prosecutors said. He claimed they were not in the crosswalk and were either running or walking fast, but roadway analysis and other evidence showed that account wasn’t true, prosecutors have said.
After Berry hit the teenagers, Antoine-Guiteau allegedly swerved around Berry’s car and “drove over Ms. Newfield,” prosecutors have said.
“Talia and Adrienne were heading to dinner shortly after 6 p.m. on a Saturday night, walking in a crosswalk on Webster Street behind Needham High School — the second crosswalk that Mr. Berry and Ms. Antoine-Guiteau sped through on their way to wherever they were going — when our daughters were run down in criminal acts,” the Newfield family said in a statement shortly after the indictments were handed up in July 2018.
By “bringing these charges today, and in their statements to us, the DA and the police have made it clear that Adrienne and Talia were doing everything right, and that the Commonwealth will seek justice for our daughters,” the family said.
The family described Talia as “a wonderful person — righteous, smart, artistic, loving to her family and friends, helpful to those around her, and so very beautiful. Talia passed through our lives for sixteen years with happiness, smiles, colorful style and humor. We love her so much, and we miss her every minute of every day. We are filled with anguish, despair and sadness; our lives are changed forever; we do not know how to carry on without Talia, and we struggle to get through each day.”
In a notice published in The Boston Globe shortly after the crash, Garrido’s family recalled her as a “sweet, thoughtful girl, full of life and light; she touched the lives of everyone she met. Compassionate friend, National Honor Society student, and cross-country co-captain.”
Garrido’s family also included a response she had written to a classroom prompt asking students “Who am I?” Garrido answered, “I am a hardworking student with an optimistic view on life who is half white, half Latina, a cross country and track runner, a friend, a daughter, and a sister.”
Garrido and Newfield ran for the school’s cross-country team for three seasons. Garrido also participated in indoor and outdoor track. At a meet soon after the crash, the indoor track team wore black-and-white ribbons with “TN & AG” written on them to honor the girls, who were best friends.