Jennifer Toscano Stoughton Massachusetts nurse killed by Luis Baez DUI driver after the Good Samaritan stopped along Pawtucket freeway to assist rolled over motorist.
An off-duty nurse was killed in a hit-and-run on a Rhode Island freeway early Sunday when she stopped to help a crash victim after an accident, according to reports.
Jennifer Toscano, 34, of Stoughton, Massachusetts was heading home from a Halloween party when she stopped on Route 95 North in Pawtucket around 2 a.m. to offer assistance to an injured motorist following a roll-over accident — when she was hit — with the driver speeding off, WJAR-TV reports.
Police chased down the driver, who was identified as Luiz Baez of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and charged him with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
‘He didn’t even stop, and she died right on impact,’ Ashley Zeolla, a longtime friend of Toscano’s, told WJAR-TV.
‘She died as a hero, doing what she loved to do,’ Zeolla added. ‘Jen seeing someone on the side of the road, that’s just something she would do she’d have to go help them.’
‘If someone needed help, Jen was always there to help them,’
Toscano, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who lived in Stoughton, most recently worked at Bridgewater State Hospital.
She was being a Good Samaritan when she pulled over near Exit 30 to help a man trapped inside the overturned vehicle.
‘If someone needed help, Jen was always there to help them,’ Zeolla said. ‘She was my best friend. She was always there for everyone. If you needed her, she was there for you.’
Toscano leaves behind a teenage son, Doug. Just four months ago, Doug’s father died. A GoFundMe page has been set up for him.
Baez, who had been driving with a suspended license, appeared in court on Monday where he was formally arraigned and bail set at $45,000 with surety.
Anyone who has information about any of the crashes should call the Rhode Island State Police Lincoln barracks at 401-444-1100.
