The 10-year-old Massachusetts boy killed in a drunken driving crash after the Kenny Chesney concert Saturday was identified as Jaylen Bush-Victorian, according to Brockton Public Schools.
The rising fifth grader attended Downey School along with his siblings, who were also in the crash. And his mother serves as a paraprofessional at the Barrett Russell Early Childhood Center.
“It’s challenging to find the words to describe the sense of loss brought on by this tragedy,” the school district wrote on Facebook. “Our hearts are with the family and all those who love them as they mourn.”
Massachusetts State Police said that Michael Escolas, 42, of Oxford, stole a car from a Gillette Stadium parking lot, drove drunk down Route 1 and hit another car carrying the family of six stopped at an intersection. Jaylen was killed and Escolas and the five other family members were injured, authorities said.
Escolas is facing charges of motor vehicle manslaughter by operating under the influence, larceny of a motor vehicle, operating under the influence (second offense), negligent operation, marked lane violation and nine counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the crash, according to court records.
During his arraignment in Wrentham District Court, Escolas pleaded not guilty to the charges, court records show. As requested by the prosecution, the judge ordered him held on $100,000 cash bail with conditions of release including that he refrain from driving, drinking and having contact with the family and that he wear an alcohol and location monitoring ankle bracelet, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
What happened Saturday evening
Prior to the crash, Escolas stole a Vermont couple’s Jeep Grand Cherokee while they attended the Kenny Chesney concert at Gillette Stadium Saturday evening, law enforcement said previously. He then drove the car south on Route 1 at a high rate of speed before crashing with the family of six’s Nissan Altima at the intersection with I-495.
One Massachusetts State Police trooper who responded to the crash described finding the Nissan with “severe” left-side damage and the Jeep with heavy, right-side, front-end damage. He wrote in a police report that there was blood all over the inside of the Jeep, which had its airbag deployed.
After the crash, the 32-year-old father and 31-year-old mother were treated at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, according to police reports. Their 10-year-old son was rushed to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro where he was declared dead.
The couple’s other children — ages 11, 8 and 4 — were treated at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, according to police reports. Three cars at the intersection were also damaged in the crash, but their drivers did not need to go to the hospital.
What Escolas told investigators
A state police trooper found Escolas standing outside the Jeep shirtless and covered in blood, according to the police report. The trooper described him as having an “overwhelming” smell of alcohol on his breath, slow and slurred speech, and bloodshot and glassy eyes.
When the trooper asked Escolas what happened, he said, “I came up quick. I don’t know,” before pointing to the road, according to the police report. When asked where he was coming from, he repeatedly told the trooper he was coming from a pizzeria over 40 minutes away in Sutton that he seemed to mistakenly believe was close by.
Escolas later admitted to having attended the Kenny Chesney concert after the trooper noticed that he had a wristband labeled “floor access,” according to the police report. He declined to take a breathalyzer or blood test, but failed other sobriety tests at the scene.
Escolas also appeared to believe he was driving his wife’s car at the time of the crash and seemed genuinely confused when she later told him that she had her car, according to the police report. He was last charged with an OUI in 2010 out of Worcester District Court.
The Oxford man is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on Sept. 19, according to court records.
