A Lowell man has been charged with manslaughter for the death of a 26-week-old fetus in a head-on crash on the Jamaicaway, where prosecutors say his car hit 103 miles per hour on a road posted at 25. Luis Bermudez Torres, 23, was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday, September 28, 2026, after a grand jury indicted him the previous Friday. He is presumed innocent.
Massachusetts has no fetal homicide statute. The charge rests instead on two Supreme Judicial Court decisions, and on one fact prosecutors will have to prove: that the fetus was viable.
What prosecutors allege
According to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, as reported by Boston.com and Universal Hub:
- At about 10 p.m. on August 17, 2026, Torres and his girlfriend left an event at Franklin Field in his 2016 Honda Accord and drove north on the Jamaicaway.
- He rear-ended another car at an intersection, “panicked,” drove around it, and continued inbound “at increasing speeds.”
- On a curve he lost control, crossed the median and hit a 2017 Nissan Altima head-on. The car’s data recorder showed 103 mph shortly before the crash, prosecutors said.
- The Altima’s driver, a 39-year-old pregnant woman, suffered blunt-force injuries and a fractured wrist. At the hospital she was told her fetus, a boy, had died. Her brother, a passenger, was not hurt. Torres’s girlfriend was seriously injured; Torres cut his leg.
Police arrested him in Boxford Monday morning. Bail was set at $50,000, with an order not to drive if he posts it. “The circumstances here point to terribly reckless actions that have caused enormous heartbreak,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.
The charges
- Manslaughter. Under G.L. c. 265, § 13, up to 20 years in state prison. Involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional killing caused by wanton or reckless conduct.
- Motor vehicle homicide. Under G.L. c. 90, § 24G(b), causing a death by operating “negligently so that the lives or safety of the public might be endangered” carries 30 days to two and a half years in a house of correction, a fine of $300 to $3,000, or both. The DA’s office described the charge as reckless motor vehicle homicide.
- Two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors did not specify in the reports we reviewed which injuries each count covers.
How you can be charged with killing a fetus in Massachusetts
The homicide statutes say “person.” The Supreme Judicial Court decided four decades ago that a viable fetus is one.
- Commonwealth v. Cass, 392 Mass. 799 (1984). A driver struck a woman eight and a half months pregnant; the fetus died. The SJC held that a viable fetus is a “person” under the vehicular homicide statute, reasoning that “an offspring of human parents cannot reasonably be considered to be other than a human being.” Because the rule was new, it applied only going forward.
- Commonwealth v. Lawrence, 404 Mass. 378 (1989). The court extended that reasoning to common-law homicide and affirmed an involuntary manslaughter conviction for the death of a 27-week fetus.
That makes this case a close cousin of Cass: a car, a pregnant woman, a fetus that died. We explained the rule in detail when a Holyoke man was sentenced this month for killing an unborn child in a shooting.
Viability is the element to watch
The cases turn on whether the fetus could have survived outside the womb, which medicine generally places at about 24 weeks. At 26 weeks this fetus is past that line, but not far past it. The Commonwealth will have to prove viability, usually through medical testimony. Expect the defense to test it.
The other contested element will be recklessness. Driving 103 mph in a 25 zone after fleeing a crash is the kind of evidence prosecutors use to show wanton or reckless conduct, which manslaughter requires. Negligence alone is enough for motor vehicle homicide but not for manslaughter.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a crime to kill a fetus in a car crash in Massachusetts?
It can be. There is no fetal homicide statute, but in Commonwealth v. Cass (1984) the SJC held that a viable fetus is a person under the vehicular homicide statute, and in Commonwealth v. Lawrence (1989) it upheld a manslaughter conviction for killing a viable fetus.
Who is charged in the Jamaicaway crash?
Luis Bermudez Torres, 23, of Lowell. He was arraigned September 28, 2026 in Suffolk Superior Court on manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to the Suffolk District Attorney. He is presumed innocent.
What is the maximum sentence for manslaughter in Massachusetts?
Twenty years in state prison under G.L. c. 265, section 13.
What does viable mean in these cases?
Able to survive outside the womb, generally placed at about 24 weeks. The fetus in the Jamaicaway crash was 26 weeks, according to prosecutors.
Sources: Suffolk District Attorney’s office account as reported by Boston.com (Brendan Nordstrom) and Universal Hub, September 28, 2026. The indictment was not reviewed. Statutory text of G.L. c. 265, section 13 and G.L. c. 90, section 24G read at malegislature.gov. Commonwealth v. Cass and Commonwealth v. Lawrence as verified and read for our earlier report. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.