A bloody fight broke out between the family of a young woman run over in a road violence incident and the relatives of the man accused of killing her.
Destini Decoff, 26, died in the hospital on April 4, less than 72 hours after being hit by Ryan Sweatt’s Honda Civic on Route 85 north of Milford, Massachusetts.
Sweatt, 36, told police that the four men in Destini’s car had threatened him with a knife, but police alleged he made two U-turns before running her over.
He faced Framingham District Court on Tuesday after being charged with murder at an arraignment attended by family members on both sides.
Once the hearing was over, the two family groups confronted each other in the hallway outside and insulted each other before a fight broke out.
Destini Decoff, 26, was fatally injured when the car she was traveling in became caught in a road rage incident on Route 85 north of Milford in Massachusetts.
Decoff’s aunt, Dawn Anderson, claimed Sweatt’s girlfriend attacked her first, cutting her neck and bleeding after the fight.
“She came towards me and tried to grab the top of my hair, but as you can see, my hair was slicked back, so that didn’t work and I knocked her to the ground,” he said. Boston 25.
‘Destini will get justice some way, some way, but that family is sick, sick, sick, sick.’
It was unclear if anyone was charged over the fight.
Sweatt’s attorneys insisted that he never intended to kill Decoff and that he hit her by accident, but police argued that claim was inconsistent with the evidence.
‘This is not a case of road rage as reported in the media. “This was an accident that occurred when Ryan attempted to get away from the group of people who got out of his car to attack him,” Sweatt’s attorney said.
Ryan Sweatt, 36, appeared in Framingham District Court on Tuesday after being charged with murder at an arraignment attended by family members of both parties.
Decoff and Sweatt’s families insulted each other in the hallway after the hearing, which turned into a bloody fight before court officers separated them.
‘He didn’t see the person who was hit. He stopped his car after the impact and cooperated with police.
“There is much more to what was reported in the news and as the facts come to light I am sure it will become obvious that this is simply a tragic accident.
‘Ryan is a peaceful person who has always maintained a clean record with a long history of gainful employment. He was on his way home from work when the accident occurred.
Decoff’s mother, Tracy, was not convinced and insisted that the young woman’s death was intentional and was murder.
“If Massachusetts had the death penalty, that’s what I would want,” he said.
He said he hoped Sweatt would “burn in hell” after surveillance footage showed him turning and heading toward the group of friends, instead of away.
“He turned around several times and was able to keep going,” witness Brett Martin said.
Destini was taken to the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lungs and fractures to her shoulder, tibia and ribs.
Her mother, Tracy, turned off her life support system three days after she was beaten and vowed to get justice for her daughter.
‘I could have moved on. She chose to turn around, she decided to go back. He knew what he was doing when he headed towards that girl.
“I didn’t see it rise into the air. But I saw her fall, hit the pavement. From then on it was not good.”
‘I saw her in the air descending towards the street, her jacket must have been 20 feet away from her. No matter how they hit her, those clothes of hers flew away.”
Sweatt told police he had left work and was driving home to Milford when the other car stopped in front of him and the driver slammed on the brakes.
A police officer caught up with Sweatt and saw damage to his windshield after seeing him speed away.
“They’re trying to kill me,” he told the officer, pointing to the people gathered around Destini, who was lying in a pool of blood.
Destini was taken to the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lungs and fractures to her shoulder, tibia and ribs.
He had an emergency operation to remove his spleen and part of his skull to relieve pressure on his swollen brain, but he never regained consciousness.
Tracy turned off her daughter’s life support system three days after being hit and vowed to get justice for her daughter.
‘With every ounce of my being I hope that mf burns straight into hell!’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘Today my biggest fear as a mother became my reality. My firstborn and my best friend is no longer with me.
‘I don’t break my promises and I promise you with every ounce of my being that I will get justice for you no matter what it takes.
‘Go spread those beautiful wings and fly without pain or suffering.’
Tracy Decoff thanked the doctors at Umass Memorial Medical Center who tried to save her daughter’s life and gave her a printout of Destini’s last heartbeats.
‘My firstborn and my best friend is no longer with me,’ Destini’s mother wrote, ‘I don’t break my promises and I promise you with every ounce of my being that I will get justice for you.’
Tracy thanked the doctors at Umass Memorial Medical Center who tried to save her daughter’s life and gave her a printout of Destini’s last heartbeats.
“I know that working in the medical field you are supposed to contain your emotions,” he wrote.
‘All the doctors, all the different types of trauma surgeons were incredible.
‘The anesthesiologist cried with me saying how sorry she was. Those trauma ICU nurses are like no other! Hug and cry with my other children and my family.
‘I had a nurse who wasn’t even my daughter’s nurse tell me she’s from Medway and how popular my daughter is there. “Medway loves her” is what she said.
‘After he was called, this nurse let me help her make my daughter’s last handprints and print her heartbeat on a bottle.
‘Many of them said that we can see under all her wounds that she is a pretty girl.
‘I said absolutely beautiful. I will treasure them forever.”
