Boston driver to be sentenced Thursday for causing crash that killed 2-year-old

A South Boston woman whose negligence at the wheel, a jury found, led to the death of a toddler pedestrian will appear in court Thursday afternoon for sentencing.

Charlene Casey was convicted last week in Suffolk Superior Court of negligent motor vehicle homicide in the death of Colin McGrath, a South Boston 2-year-old boy struck and killed during a chain reaction car crash in July of 2018.

Kerri and Brendan McGrath display a picture of their son, Colin, at their home in South Boston on Feb. 15, 2019. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe via Getty Images

Casey, 67, failed to yield the right of way and struck a van at the corner of East Sixth Street and L Street, a jury determined. The collision damaged the vans steering column, and without control, it plowed into Colin and his 4-year-old sister as they returned home from a local park with their caretaker.Read more: Charlene Casey convicted in crash that killed 2-year-old Colin McGrath

The sister survived the crash with serious injuries, including broken bones and a lacerated liver. Colin was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

Casey will appear in court before Judge Katie Cook Rayburn at 2 p.m. Thursday. She faces up to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Brendan McGrath bows his head during the trial of Charlene Casey at Suffolk Superior Courthouse, Oct. 11, 2022. Casey is accused of causing a car crash in South Boston that killed McGraths 22-month-old son Colin McGrath. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe via Getty Images

In an emotionally fraught trial, witnesses described arriving at the crash scene to find the two McGrath children severely injured.

One woman, a former lifeguard, said she heard the crash and ran to the scene, leaving her car running in the street. Through tears, Mary Kate Shea, of Scituate, said her first aid training kicked in when she found McGrath unresponsive. She described to jurors how she and others began CPR on the boy, trying to keep him alive as paramedics rushed to the scene.Read more: After crash killed 2-year-old Colin McGrath, his injured sister called to him, EMT testifies

I kept talking to Colin, Shea said, telling him we loved him.

When Lt. Edward Matthews, of the Boston Fire Department, pulled his fire engine up to the intersection, other first responders were already caring for McGrath. Matthews said he and another firefighter walked to where an older man was cradling McGraths sister.

She was seriously injured, but conscious, Matthews recalled. She was screaming, he said I want my brother.

Close to the crash site, nearly seven months later, a large picture of Colin McGrath remains affixed to an iron fence in front of the Monsignor John T. Powers Apartments in South Boston on Feb. 15, 2019. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe via Getty Images

Assistant District Attorney David McGowan argued in court that Casey should have seen the van before entering the intersection.

The quickest glance left and she could see for blocks, he said. The quickest glance left, and she could not miss this large green tank of a van.

Jurors were not swayed by the argument from defense attorney Steven Boozang that the crash was a tragic, freak, uncontrollable accident.Read more: The quickest glance could have saved 2-year-old Colin McGraths life, state argues as driver goes on trial

In a statement following the verdict last Wednesday, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden called the case tragic and heartbreaking in every way.

While were grateful for the jurys decision, we are fully aware that no verdict can even begin to alleviate the grief the McGrath family and their loved ones will forever hold over the loss of Colin, he said.