A concerned off-duty nurse who stopped her car to help a crash victim was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Jennifer Toscano, 34, was attempting to aid a man whose car had flipped on Interstate 95 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island at around 1:45 a.m. when a reckless driver smashed into her before leaving the area. Sadly, Toscano did not survive her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, WJAR reports.
- What happened was a terrible tragedy. Toscano had been driving home from a Halloween party when she saw the flipped vehicle and stopped to come to the driver’s aid. However, just after helping him, another car hit her and promptly kept driving, leaving her there to die.
- A search quickly began to find the hit-and-run driver. Police knew the car that hit Toscano was red, so they began a search to locate the exact vehicle and its driver. It wasn’t long until they discovered the suspect was 22-year-old Luis Baez from Boston. It was determined that he was under the influence at the time of the accident.
- The driver now faces multiple charges. Police arrested Baez and charged him with driving so as to endanger resulting in death, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, operating on a suspending license resulting in death, and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs resulting in death.
- Toscano’s friends remembered her care and kindness. Toscano’s friend Ashley Zeolla said: “She was my best friend. She was always there for everyone. If you needed her, she was there for you.” She added that Toscano wouldn’t have hesitated to stop to help the man in need, saying, “That’s just who she was. Definitely, I would say her nurse instincts kicked in that night – last night – and she had to go and save someone. She died doing what she loved doing,”
- Sadly, she leaves a 14-year-old son behind. It was reported that Toscano’s 14-year-old son lost his father last summer, leaving him not only without his dad now but also without his mom. Hopefully he’s able to find love and support with other family members to help him through this traumatic time.
