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Brockton Public Schools offers counseling after 10-year-old student dies in Plainville accident; police report provides insight into tragedy


Brockton Public Schools offers counseling after 10-year-old student dies in Plainville accident; police report provides insight into tragedy

“It is difficult to find words to describe the sense of loss this tragedy brings. Our thoughts are with the family and all those who love them as they grieve,” the post said.

Counselors are available at Downey School on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

“Members of our district leadership team are in regular contact with the Bush-Victorian family and will continue to stand by them and offer them any available support as they mourn this tragic loss,” the statement said.

A police report released Tuesday sheds light on the serious accident that left Jaylen dead and his other family members, including her father Andre Victorian, injured.

The Brockton family of six was sitting in a car waiting for a light to turn green when a stolen Jeep sped into them from behind in Plainville on Saturday night. The driver was allegedly drunk from a concert a few miles away. according to a police report.

It is unclear if anyone in the car, a Nissan, saw the Jeep coming before it violently collided with their vehicle, injuring four children and their mother and father. Jaylen later died in the hospital, police said.

When emergency responders arrived, a police officer found the father lying on the street next to the Nissan and performed CPR until he regained consciousness and was breathing, the report said.

Prosecutors say Michael Escolas, 42, of Oxford, stole the Jeep from outside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough after leaving a Kenny Chesney concert early. The Jeep belonged to a Vermont couple attending the concert, and hidden inside was a key fob that allowed Escolas to get into the vehicle and start it, prosecutors said at his arraignment Monday, according to CBS Boston.

Escolas was charged with several counts, including manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, and was being held on $100,000 bail, court records show.

Two women who said they were the children’s grandmothers spoke to reporters outside Wrentham District Court on Monday. One of the women said the boy had “a heart of gold.”

“He was a beautiful child, he was loved and adored by everyone,” she said, according to a video from WJAR. “Everyone who met him fell in love with this child.”

The grandmothers and paternal grandmothers (left) of the child who died in a car crash in Plainville on Saturday speak to the media outside Wrentham District Court on Monday.MARK STOCKWELL/THE SUN CHRONICLE/Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle

Authorities have not released the child’s name. The child’s family could not be reached for comment Tuesday and Escolas’ attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to officials and a state police report filed in court, Escolas had a ticket to the Kenny Chesney concert on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

Authorities said Escolas was driving south on Route 1 and collided with the Nissan the family was in at a traffic light near the intersection with Interstate 495, about four miles southwest of the stadium. Three other vehicles were also struck in the crash – their occupants were not taken to the hospital, officials said. The crash was reported around 8:30 p.m.

According to the report and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, the Nissan suffered severe damage to its left side, while the Jeep sustained significant damage to its right front side.

Another police officer who arrived at the scene said in a report that he found the father lying on his back on the ground next to the wrecked Nissan and performed CPR on him.

“My son is not well,” one of the women said outside court on Monday, referring to the boy’s father as she fought back tears. “He’s holding on, but he’s not well.”

The parents, identified in the police report as Andre Victorian and Jasmine Bush-Victorian, and the children were taken to area hospitals. The 10-year-old boy was pronounced dead at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, police wrote in the report.

The three other children were taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence and their parents were taken to the trauma center at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with serious injuries, officials said.

Escolas was reportedly outside the Jeep covered in blood and shirtless when state police arrived. A trooper asked Escolas what happened.

“I came up quickly, I don’t know,” he replied, according to the report. The officer noted that Escolas’ breath allegedly had a “strong and overwhelming odor of alcohol,” but Escolas refused to consent to a preliminary breath test.

When the officer asked Escolas where he was from, he initially said he was driving his wife’s car and was coming from Tony’s Pizza in Millbury. He pointed north on Route 1 and said “right over there,” police wrote in the report. When the officer asked Escolas where he was at that moment, he reportedly said “at the intersection of 146.” Millbury is about a 45-minute drive west of the crash site, and Route 146 runs through town.

Escolas, who was also seriously injured, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he refused to give police a blood sample, according to the police report.

Escolas was taken to the state police barracks in Foxborough for booking and was allowed to make phone calls. Police said Escolas called his wife and was recorded saying, “One too many, one too many. Screwed up.”

According to police, Escolas also told his wife, “That’s your car.” The report states that Escolas then appeared “confused” and said, “Um, you have the car?” and “I’m going to find out what I did.”

Escolas was previously charged with drunk driving in Worcester District Court in 2010. However, the case continued without result, police wrote in their report.

He pleaded not guilty on Monday to 14 charges, including multiple counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, theft of a motor vehicle and manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol. His next hearing is scheduled for September 19.

“We want him to be held accountable for his actions and the destruction he has caused to our families,” said one of the boy’s grandmothers, holding up his picture. “That 10-year-old child is no longer with us.”

Globe writers Jeremiah Manion, John R. Ellement and Kathy McCabe contributed to this report.


Nick Stoico can be reached at [email protected].

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