PORTLAND – Jan Jensen hasn’t recovered from the shock she got last week in a Massachusetts courtroom — the latest turn in the nightmare she has been living since her daughter died in a car crash on Thanksgiving Day 2010.
Raina Jensen, 27, was a Portland native and a Deering High School graduate who had recently moved to Massachusetts. She was riding in a car that was hit head-on by a Jeep Cherokee that crossed into its lane in Wilbraham, Mass., in the early morning of Nov. 25, 2010.
Additional Photos
The driver of the Jeep, Joshua Lacroix, 25, pleaded guilty in District Court in Springfield, Mass., on Wednesday to the misdemeanor of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. He was given a suspended one-year prison sentence and ordered to serve three years of probation and do 98 days of community service.
For Jan Jensen, the lack of jail time for Lacroix is another source of grief. “I’ve been a crying mess ever since” the sentencing, she said.
Charles Dolan, Lacroix’s lawyer, said Friday that his client doesn’t remember the accident and told emergency responders he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Lacroix was an Army combat engineer who served for about a year in Iraq, with a specialty in detecting and neutralizing improvised explosive devices.
He arrived in the Springfield area the day before the accident after a long drive from Fort Drum in New York, Dolan said.
“Josh is very sorry for what happened. If he could change anything, he would do it in a moment’s notice,” Dolan said.
Raina Jensen was the only child of Jan Jensen and her husband, John. She was an aspiring philanthropist and worked to promote ecotourism and economic development in Fiji.
“She’s on my mind — every minute, every second, every day the past 13 and a half months,” her mother said.
Lacroix, who’s now in the Army Reserve and living in Springfield, initially was charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
The lesser offense of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation is punishable by as much as 2½ years.
Lacroix ultimately faced the lesser charge because his blood alcohol level tested below 0.05 percent. In Massachusetts, levels from 0.05 to 0.08 percent are admissible as evidence; any driver with a level above 0.08 percent is presumed to be under the influence.
Lacroix’s guilty plea triggered an automatic loss of his driver’s license for 15 years. Dolan said Lacroix, who had no prior criminal record or traffic offenses, has not driven since the accident, in accordance with the conditions of his release.
Lacroix could not be reached for comment. Dolan would not convey a request for an interview.
Hampden County Assistant District Attorney James Forsyth, who asked for the maximum penalty, could not be reached for comment Friday.
About 30 of Raina Jensen’s relatives and friends were in court Wednesday for Lacriox’s sentencing. Some made statements about how they had been affected by the young woman’s death. Jan Jensen presented a 3½-foot-by-5-foot posterboard with a collage depicting her daughter’s life on one side and her accomplishments on the other.
She also gave supporters copies of a photo of Raina — a shot that showed off her big smile — that they wore in ID badge holders.
Noreen Jensen of Portland, Raina Jensen’s aunt, said she was disappointed and hurt by the outcome in court.
“It kind of makes you think, ‘What’s this legal system about?’ Just, ‘How could it happen?’ ” she said. “We lost a person — a beautiful person.”
As angry as Jan Jensen is, she’s still thinking of many ways to honor her daughter’s memory — some close to home and others more far-flung.
Among them is a plan to ask the town of Wilbraham to put up a caution light at the accident site, because Jensen believes the intersection is dangerous.
The site is now marked with a white cross. Jan Jensen decorated it for Christmas and left a rose there last week after leaving the courthouse.
Jan Jensen has already started a scholarship program at Deering High School. The Raina Jensen Memorial Scholarship goes to a student with similar interests, such as journalism, volunteerism and athletics.
The mother also wants to start a scholarship program in Vorovoro, the Fijian island where Raina Jensen worked. She also wants to expand on her daughter’s work that established the community’s first library.
This summer, Jan Jensen hopes to begin spreading her daughter’s ashes in the places she loved and others she hoped to visit. The list includes Fiji, Peru, Mount Kilimanjaro, Thailand and Vinalhaven.
Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:
akim@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
