If the needless death of a teenager at the hands of a reckless criminal offends you, there's a rally on Saturday (1/22) that you may want to attend.
Like many Rhode Islanders, I read the news about the death of 17 year old Olivia Passaretti of East Greenwich and was horrified. On New Year's Eve, Olivia's car was hit on RT. 95 by a drunk driver, who had bragged on social media about how he PLANNED to drive drunk that night. She was run off the road and died after hitting a tree. The offending driver who hit her is a habitual offender with a lengthy criminal record. He fled the scene and was hiding under his bed when police found him.
Police have charged him with reckless driving, death resulting and leaving the scene of an accident. Olivia's family wants him to be charged with vehicular murder, as his actions were entirely premeditated.
The Passaretti family has organized a rally on Saturday at 2:00pm at the RI Attorney General's Office. Here are the details:
Here are the details of the crash and the impact it has had on Olivia's family and community, as reported by Emily Reed of ABC6.
source: Instagram Video: YouTube/WLNE