Executive Summary
- Margie Mendez died in April from injuries sustained when she was hit by a Massachusetts State Police cruiser in January.
- The family’s lawsuit alleges Trooper Kyle Sontoro was negligent while turning at an intersection.
- An investigation by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office previously found the trooper was not at fault.
- Mendez’s husband, Rafael, passed away in November, months after his wife’s death.
The family of a Brookline woman who died following a collision with a Massachusetts State Police cruiser has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department and the involved trooper. The complaint, filed in Middlesex Superior Court, alleges that Trooper Kyle Sontoro was negligent when his vehicle struck 85-year-old Margie Mendez in a crosswalk earlier this year.
According to the lawsuit, Mendez was walking at the intersection of Boylston and Hammond Streets in Chestnut Hill on January 15 when the incident occurred. Legal filings by the estate claim that Trooper Sontoro "negligently failed to keep a proper look out for" pedestrians while executing a right turn from Hammond Street onto Boylston Street. The crash caused Mendez to suffer a broken ankle, rib and skull fractures, and a brain bleed that required emergency surgery. She succumbed to her injuries nearly three months later, on April 5.
Trooper Sontoro stated to local police at the scene that he had stopped at a red light and proceeded only when the signal turned green, asserting that Mendez stepped off the curb simultaneously, according to reports by Brookline.News. A subsequent investigation conducted by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office cleared Sontoro of criminal fault regarding the crash. A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police declined to comment on the pending litigation but expressed condolences to the Mendez family.
The family’s loss was compounded by the death of Mendez’s husband, Rafael, on November 5. Her son, Kevin McCarthy, told Brookline.News that his father "died of a broken heart" following the loss of his wife. The civil suit seeks damages for the estate based on the allegations of negligence.
Civil Litigation and Legal Standards
This lawsuit illustrates the distinct separation between criminal investigations and civil liability in the American justice system. While the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office found insufficient evidence to assign criminal fault to the trooper, the civil court system operates under a different burden of proof—preponderance of the evidence—allowing the family to pursue financial redress for negligence. It is important to note that the claims detailed in the lawsuit remain allegations that must be proven in civil court, distinct from the closed criminal inquiry.
