A Deadly Warning, Unheeded: Driver Accused In Memorial Drive Homicide Had Caused Another Wreck Less Than Two Months Earlier

Junming Zhu, the driver accused of killing a man on the Paul Dudley White Bike Path in Cambridge in September 2024, had caused another serious crash on Main Street in Melrose less than two months before the homicide.

Junming Zhu is facing charges of negligent motor vehicle homicide, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and a marked lane violation for his alleged role in the killing of John Corcoran of Newton on Sept. 23, 2024. He has pled not guilty to all three charges.

StreetsblogMASS has obtained a police report from the Melrose Police Department that alleges that Zhu had also caused another serious crash just seven weeks before Corcoran’s death.

According to the report from Melrose patrol officer Michael Koytikh and Sgt. Paul Sasso, police came across the scene of a two-car crash at 288 Main Street at 1:47 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, August 3, 2024, with two unoccupied vehicles.

One of the vehicles, a white 2023 Mercedes GLB registered to Zhu’s address in Malden, had had its driver-side air bag deployed. The Mercedes also had damage to its front end, front passenger-side door, and the front-right tire.

The second vehicle, a silver BMW, had damage to its left side and rear end.

In his report, Sgt. Sasso surmised that the driver of the white Mercedes had veered out of the lane and crashed into the parked BMW.

Soon afterward, another cop located Junming Zhu about half a mile away, walking towards Malden.

Zhu reportedly told police that he was coming from the Encore Casino, and initially denied his involvement in the crash.

But his story fell apart when Zhu asked police where his keys were. Police asked him if he was looking for keys for a white Mercedes, and Zhu answered yes.

The police report also notes that the previous day – Friday, August 2 – had been Zhu’s birthday.

But in spite of that circumstance, and Zhu’s admission that he had been driving home from the Encore casino at a late hour, the police report offers no indication that police investigated Zhu’s sobriety.

According to the police report, Zhu received a summons for leaving the scene of a crash, a misdemeanor under Mass. General Law Chapter 90, Section 24.

A warning ignored

Chapter 90, Section 24 is supposed to prohibit driving a motor vehicle “negligently so that the lives or safety of the public might be endangered.”

But less than two months later, on the evening of Monday, September 23rd, prosecutors and eyewitnesses allege that Zhu was behind the wheel of a new Mercedes SUV (a 2024 GLC, a very similar model to the vehicle he’d wrecked in Melrose) when he once again veered off the roadway.

This time, though, Zhu didn’t crash into a parked car.

Police and eyewitnesses allege that Zhu drove head-on into John Corcoran, a 62 year-old man from Newton who was riding his bike on the Paul Dudley White bike path near the Boston University Bridge in Cambridge.

StreetsblogMASS reached out to the Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office to ask whether prosecutors had been aware of Zhu’s August 3 crash, and whether Zhu ever faced any more serious charges for his role in that crash.

We also asked the District Attorney’s office about what policies they have in place to identify high-risk drivers and reckless driving incidents to try to prevent vehicular homicides before they happen.

Meghan Kelly, a spokesperson for the District Attorney, avoided answering any of those questions.

Instead, she wrote in an email that “the case regarding the Junming Zhu from the crash on Memorial Drive is open at this time (and) as such I would refer you to the court for any public records that are available as the case is proceeding.”