A Hopkinton man was charged in an accident in July that killed a well-known Rhode Island civil rights attorney and injured his wife, according to Richmond Police.
Rosheed F. Faison, 40, of 78 Spring Street, was charged Thursday with fatal driving and personal injury driving, both crimes, Richmond Police said in a press release.
The July 1 accident outside Richmond Elementary School killed H. Jefferson Melish, 73, and seriously injured his wife, Joanne, 74, who was in the passenger seat.
More:Civil rights attorney Melish recalled as a tireless advocate for the oppressed
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At around 3:45 p.m. on July 1, Faison was driving a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck east on Kingstown Road when he lost control in a left turn, crossed the double yellow line, and drove the 2019 Subaru Melish on the west lane, shared the Richmond Police in a press release.
Faison, alone in the truck, was not injured in the frontal crash, according to the police.
Richmond Police said the department conducted an accident reconstruction investigation that concluded Faison was driving the truck in “ruthless disregard for the safety of others”.
The investigation included interviewing witnesses, reviewing video evidence from the school’s external cameras and analyzing informational recordings from incident data from both vehicles, police said. The Rhode Island State Police assisted the Richmond Police in retrieving the incident data information.
Melish has worked on many cases for the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union.
“He was a very active volunteer attorney for the ACLU for several decades, handling numerous cases for us. He also served on our board of directors for many years,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU, previously.
Brown said, “He was a great addition to the ACLU and his death is truly tragic.”
The Melish family say they are grateful to all of the police and firefighters who responded to the accident, particularly the Carolina Fire Department, “without whom our mother would not have survived,” daughter Rachel Zinkand wrote in an email.
“We’d also like to thank the trauma team in the intensive care unit at Rhode Island Hospital,” said Zinkand.
The case will be submitted to the Rhode Island District Attorney’s Office for criminal investigation on November 5th, Richmond Police said.
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