MMSF helps riders downed riders and their
families all around Massachusetts. Please take a look at our
past events to read about those in the
riding community that we've helped. |
|
Sunday, April 22, 2007,
from 1-4 p.m. at the American Legion Post, Haverhill/Plaistow, NH line,
the
Massachusetts Motorcyclists Survivor’s Fund/Essex County along with
family and friends will host the 2nd annual “Celebration of Friends” - In Memory of Larry Monahan, who was
senselessly killed March 18, 2006
$25 per family donation is requested with all funds after Event expenses
to be donated to the Monahan Family to help with ongoing expenses – ride
or drive, bring the kids!
Buy your tickets securely, online, now with Click
and Pledge.
Print a flyer for the event.
Live Music by the Road Kings – Southern Rock & Blues
Food, Games for Kids & Adults !
Order your tickets or make your
donation on line or
mail in to: MMSF, Inc., P.O. Box 427, Salem, MA 01970
Event Tickets will also be available at local shops in Essex County.
For more info, contact Carol at
twstd63@yahoo.com The Massachusetts
Motorcyclists Survivor’s Fund, Inc.,/Essex County, is a non-profit
Corporation, made up of all volunteers and will be hosting the 8th
Annual “Nelson’s Ride” Sunday, August 26, 2007 – details to follow –
save the date!
To read Jacqueline Monahan's Impact
Statement, click here.
Published: March 30, 2007 12:00 am
www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_089115535
'I will miss him at every milestone': 
Daughter talks of missing father as driver is jailed for fatal crash
By Martina Brendel , Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune
HAVERHILL (MA) - The last time Nicole Lamkin spoke to her father,
Lawrence Monahan Jr., he cried.
Monahan, 53, had just fulfilled his dream of owning a Harley Davidson
but now was worried whether he could afford it on top of his daughter's
wedding.
Hours later, his life was abruptly taken by a speeding green Saturn as
he was backing out of his Rosemont Street driveway on his new
motorcycle.
Yesterday, the driver of that car - Alexis Ortiz, 23, of 27 Victor St. -
pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and vehicular homicide in
Salem Superior Court. He was sentenced to two and a half years in
prison, of which he is to serve two years. He was also sentenced to 10
years of probation and ordered not to drive for 15 years.
Present at the sentencing were Monahan's wife, Jacqueline
Monahan, and his daughter Lamkin, who flew in from Florida for the
sentencing. Lamkin spoke of how she and her estranged father had worked
hard during the last three years to repair their relationship, and the
pain of celebrating her wedding without him.
"I will miss him at every milestone for the rest of my life," she said.
"The relationship we had worked so hard to repair will remain like one
of his cars, partially repaired forever."
Jacqueline Monahan, meanwhile, spoke of the emotional and financial
hardship she has faced since losing her husband.
"I wish you could know that you didn't just kill Larry Monahan," she
told Ortiz. "You killed a part of me and of everyone who knew and loved
Larry, and I hope that you and your family will know that pain for the
rest of your life."
Ortiz was doing 81 mph in a 30-mph zone when he struck Monahan on the
evening of March 18, 2006, said prosecutor John Brennan. Three witnesses
also said he had passed them and driven through several stop signs,
Brennan said.
Based on the circumstances, Brennan requested that Ortiz receive a
sentence of five to seven years in state prison.
"I can only say from meeting with Jackie Monahan that this is a really
unspeakable and horrific tragedy," Brennan said. "He (Ortiz) definitely
made a decision to operate his car at a speed that is unbelievable, and
any reasonable individual would have known that."
Clad in a black pinstripe suit and black tie, Ortiz - who has been free
on $5,000 bail since October - apologized to Monahan's family for his
actions.
"I'm sorry you lost your husband," he told Jacqueline Monahan. "I'm
sorry for your loss."
Judge Leila Kern also apologized to Lamkin as she left the courtroom.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Afterwards, Jacqueline Monahan said she was as satisfied as she could be
with the sentence.
"I think that he got today more than I expected because the system is
wrong and because judges don't take these behaviors seriously enough,"
she said. "As much as a person can be satisfied with something that's
not going to fix them, I'm satisfied with it."
|