Skip to Content
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Log In
Vision Zero

Drivers In Worcester Have Killed Two People in the Past 24 Hours

Elm Park and the intersection of Park Avenue and Elm Street in Worcester, where a person fatally steered their motor vehicle into a 66 year-old victim on the evening of Tuesday, November 26, 2019.

In two separate incidents last night, people driving motor vehicles struck and killed two people walking in Worcester.

The first crash happened shortly after sunset near the entrance to the city's Elm Park, near the corner of Park Avenue and Elm Street.

According to Worcester Police, the driver of a Hyundai sedan steered their vehicle into a sixty-six year-old male victim, whose name has not been released.

Worcester Police say that they are currently not pressing charges against the perpetrator, but an investigation is ongoing.

Park Avenue is designed as a high-speed, four-lane arterial that divides Elm Park, the city's oldest park. Four of Park Avenue's intersections in Worcester – including two within a quarter-mile of the crash site – are identified as "top crash locations" in MassDOT's inventory of statewide traffic safety hazards.

A few hours later, and about a mile to the west, a second killing occurred at the wide intersection of May Street and Chandler Street near the main entrance to Worcester State University campus.

There, shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, Worcester Police reportedly found an unresponsive 54-year-old victim, who was later identified as Devalter Marini Rocha of Framingham.

Rocha was also rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

According to a preliminary investigation, police say that a 23-year-old driver initially steered a 2011 Toyota Camry into a parked vehicle, then drove on a sidewalk, where his vehicle ran over a flower box and a street sign.

The perpetrator then reportedly swerved back into the street, crossed over the centerline, and killed Rocha on the opposite side of the street, before striking another unoccupied parked car and finally coming to rest on the front lawn of Worcester State University.

Police are pursuing charges against this driver, and the investigation is ongoing.

Worcester is the second-largest city in Massacusetts. To date, its city government has not committed to the Vision Zero goal of eliminating serious injuries and deaths on city streets, but the City Council did adopt a "complete streets" policy in December 2017.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

Brookline Select Board Endorses Major Washington Street Redesign

The project would improve sidewalks and build curb-protected bike lanes between Beacon Street and the Brookline Village Green Line station.

February 14, 2025

Mayor Wu Will Delete Route 39 Bus Lane Through Back Bay

The Mayor also promises to "review" other new bus and bike lanes across the city in order to "adjust or redesign what has not been functioning well."

February 13, 2025

Massachusetts Gasoline Consumption Continued to Increase in 2024

Gasoline consumption and air travel in Massachusetts produced about 27 million metric tons of greenhouse pollutants in 2024, making it unlikely that the Healey administration will meet targets that Governor Baker set in the state's official climate plan.

February 10, 2025
See all posts