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WORCESTER – Mfouad A. Faris, the perpetrator of a 2021 crash that claimed the life of a passenger, Jessica L. Simone, after celebrating her 35th birthday, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular murder by reckless operation.
Faris, 29, took comfort through his defense attorney as a 12-member jury of the Worcester Superior Court read its verdict Thursday afternoon, after five hours of deliberations and a four-day trial.
For the vehicular homicide rate, the jury also had the option of culling Faris for a lower vehicular homicide rate for negligent driving than for reckless driving.
The jury found that Faris was at fault, as he had been charged.
Simone, a hairdresser who, at the time of the crash, was reading to an X-ray technician, was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center on the morning of Oct. 10, 2021, despite on-duty police officers rushing out of the scene. Close to station to give FIRST AID.
After the verdict, Simone’s mother, Mary Jean Simone, authorized through Judge William J. Ritter to make a statement.
In a very emotional state and in tears, Simone addressed words of mourning to Faris, who was on the defense table with his head down.
“It’s a triumph,” Mary Jane Simone said. No more celebrations, no more milestones with Jessica.
“She will attend her son’s prom and graduate from top school, all because you chose to be reckless with two innocent souls in your car. “
Faris, a quality engineer for a medical device company, was driving in the lane before crashing into an oncoming car on Goldsberry Street around 2 a. m. of October 10, 2021. The twist of fate caused Simone to be ejected from the car and inside the vehicle. Police car park nearby.
Faris discovered it through first responders in the back seat of the car. A police reconstruction officer said Monday that the driver’s seat’s hinge mechanism broke as a result of the crash.
A passenger in the front seat of the car was also taken to the hospital.
Daniel Bennett, a special prosecutor with the Worcester District Attorney’s Office, said at trial that Faris was doing a drag race with Fares N. Shaikh-Omar, then 20, as he was returning home after celebrating Simone’s 35th birthday with a band of friends.
Shaikh-Omar faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter.
During Faris’ trial, jurors saw surveillance footage in which Shaikh-Omar’s white BMW 335 drove past Faris as the traffic lights turned green on Summer Street near Thomas Street.
In another video, Faris’ blue Mitsubishi Lancer is seen trying to overtake the white BMW in the lane.
On the witness stand Wednesday, Faris denied being in a drag race and said he didn’t realize he was on the side of the road until he passed the white car.
Faris said he then passed the white car and passed out when his Mitsubishi hit a roadblock.
Defense attorney Steven C. Goldwyn reiterated at trial that Faris “righted the boat” after driving in the left lane on Goldsberry Street, having full control of the car before it hit a “big pothole” in the road, causing the car to spin. and then crashing into a Subaru in the oncoming lane.
Subaru driver Juliana Bahman of Worcester said on the witness stand Monday that before the crash, she saw Faris’ car trying to get back into its lane while traveling “at a pretty top speed,” wasting and entering its lane. accident.
While Goldsberry Street has a speed limit of 30 mph, Officer Keith Garlick, a reconstruction officer with the Worcester police, said Monday that Faris’ Mitsubishi was traveling at an average speed of 53 mph.
Officer Thomas A. Feraco, also with the department’s reconstruction team, said he calculated the speed of Faris’ tire tracks near the crash site at about 71 mph.
Goldwyn disputed the figures, saying there were flaws in the approach used by the two members of the police department, leading to incomplete information.
As they took the witness stand Monday, city police officers running in the early morning hours of Oct. 10 said the crash looked like “a bomb that exploded. “
Finding Simone unconscious on the sidewalk, officials gave her first aid, but to no avail; She was later pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
Simone, who turned 35 on Sept. 26, is the daughter of Kevin Harkins, a guy who disappeared from a Worcester pub in 1994. Three men were later convicted of his murder.
Following the verdict, Faris was held without bail. As he was being led away by court officials, he exchanged words in his original Arabic with emotional members of his family circle before he was taken away by court officials.
Faris was halfway to earning a master’s degree and has a bachelor’s degree in biology, according to his testimony. He was a Syrian refugee and appeared in publications recounting his adventure to escape the war.
Two charges, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and racing vehicle, were dropped.
He is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on 28 March.
This article originally published on Telegram.
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