A 26-year-old woman died Sunday from injuries from a road rage incident where a man allegedly intentionally mowed her down with his car after a minor fender bender Thursday night, according to her family.
Destini Decoff, of Boston, was standing in the road when she was struck by a Honda Civic driven by Ryan Sweatt, 36, just after 6 p.m., according to The Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
The incident took place in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, a suburb 26 miles west of Boston.
Police said a car with four men and Ms. Decoff pulled in front of Mr. Sweatt as he was driving home from work and slammed on the brakes, causing a fender bender.
At some point, Ms. Decoff and the four men exited the car, and Mr. Sweatt made one or two U-turns in a rage and allegedly rammed into Ms. Decoff.
A witness described her flying up in the air and coming down after Mr. Sweatt hit her with his vehicle.
“He could have kept going. He chose to turn around, chose to come back. He knew what he was doing when he went towards that girl,” the witness, Brett Martin, told Boston 25 News.
“I didn’t see her go up in the air. But I saw her come down, hit the pavement. It wasn’t good from there.”
A policeman saw Mr. Sweatt speed away from the scene after hitting Ms. Decoff and detained him when he saw the damage to his car.
Mr. Sweatt was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and operating to endanger, as well as a lane violation, but those charges are likely to increase after Ms. Decoff died from her injuries.
Mr. Sweatt claimed that the four men threatened him with a knife before he struck Ms. Decoff, but that theory still doesn’t explain why he made at least one extra U-turn that struck her.
A knife was recovered from the scene where Ms. Decoff was struck. Mr. Sweatt denied the charges against him and remained in custody until a dangerousness hearing on Wednesday.
Ms. Decoff was hospitalized with a brain bleed and collapsed lungs, shoulder, tibia, and rib fractures.
She also had her spleen removed and part of her skull in order to relieve pressure on her brain.
She never regained consciousness and was taken off life support by her mother, Tracy Decoff, on Sunday.
Tracy Decoff, who said she works in the medical field, thanked the “amazing” medical staff at Umass Memorial Medical Center for their treatment of her daughter and for trying to save her. She also blasted Mr. Sweatt for his actions toward her daughter.
“Today my biggest fear as a mother became my reality. My first born child and best friend is no longer with me,” she continued. “I don’t break promises and I promise you with every ounce of my being I will get justice for you regardless of what it takes.” she wrote on Facebook.
“Go spread those beautiful wings and fly without pain and suffering,” she posted to her daughter.
She described what happened after her daughter stopped breathing for the last time.
“After they called it this nurse let me help her make my daughter’s final handprints and printed her heartbeat put in a bottle,” she said. “So many of them said we can tell underneath all her injuries she’s a pretty girl.”
“I said absolutely beautiful. I will treasure these forever,” she continued.
A GoFundMe was established to help Ms. Decoff’s family with final expenses.
