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Driver who fatally struck Webster fourth-grader charged with OUI a week before
Just days before a Southbridge woman allegedly struck and killed a 10-year-old girl in a car crash, she stood before a judge for allegedly driving while on drugs.
A Southbridge woman who allegedly struck and killed a 10-year-old girl in Webster on Saturday was arrested the week before for allegedly driving while on drugs, according to police.
Officials have identified Sherry Mae Plitouke, 35, as the driver of a car that fatally hit Marleigh Guevara, a fourth-grade student at Webster Public Schools. Officers responded to a 911 call about a crash just before 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon and found Guevara “unresponsive,” Webster police said on Facebook.
A passerby at the scene who had a defibrillator initiated CPR, and emergency responders took over when they arrived, according to police. Guevara was taken to UMass Memorial Hospital, where she died from her injuries.
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“When a community tragically loses a child, it loses a piece of its soul,” Webster police wrote. “Our hearts go out to Marleigh’s family and friends as they endure this terrible loss.”
Less than a week before the fatal crash, Plitouke stood before a judge to face charges of drug possession and operating under the influence. Court records show that she was arraigned April 6 in Dudley District Court, where she pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance.
Those charges stem from an April 3 incident in Dudley where — police there say — officers found Plitouke behind the wheel, stopped in the middle of the road, and apparently asleep.
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At about 9:30 p.m., police responded to the area of 105 Center Road after a public safety officer at nearby Nichols College reported a female driver who was stopped in the roadway. Officers found Plitouke behind the wheel and unresponsive, though her car was still running and playing loud music, according to a police report filed in court.
When officers woke Plitouke up, she allegedly “did not know where she was or that she had become unresponsive while operating the vehicle.” She appeared to be “extremely drowsy,” had slowed speech, and was unsteady on her feet, Dudley police wrote in court records.
Responding officers determined that Plitouke was under the influence of narcotics and began searching her car, the police report reads. She told police that she had unprescribed pills in her jacket pocket, and, when they searched that pocket, they found a pouch containing what appeared to be crack cocaine.
Plitouke then told officers that the jacket wasn’t hers and that she had borrowed it from a friend. However, she couldn’t tell them the friend’s name, according to the police report. She also claimed that the car she was driving didn’t belong to her.
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When Plitouke had been arrested and was seated in the back of the police cruiser, she began nodding off again, court records show. As officers continued to search her car, they found two plastic bags containing what appeared to be heroin with fentanyl and more crack cocaine.
After Plitouke was booked, officers searched her and found drug paraphernalia used to smoke crack cocaine, according to the police report. She was charged with operating under the influence of drugs, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a class A drug, and possession of a class B drug.
As of Tuesday night, Plitouke is not facing any charges for Saturday’s crash. She is due back in court June 2 for a hearing on the earlier incident, court records show.
Webster police, the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Accident Reconstruction Unit, and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office are currently investigating the crash that killed Guevara, according to police. Counselors were available Monday to support students and staff at Park Avenue Elementary School, where she attended.
Plitouke’s attorney, Evelyn Marquis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
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