A 68-year-old Arlington man pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge he was driving with an expired license last December when his car struck and killed a Cambridge woman in a Massachusetts Avenue crosswalk.
Paul F. Giragosian still could face a more serious charge in the death of Elba “Lucy” Ortiz-Delgado, 77, of North Cambridge, once a lengthy police investigation has been completed.
At Cambridge District Court in Medford was Juliet Blackett, a neighbor of Ortiz-Delgado who secured the woman’s remains last winter after no next of kin was found.
Giragosian, of 68 Lake St., entered a plea waiving a jury trial.
A charge of failure to stop for a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk was dismissed. A responding police officer did not see the accident. Giragosian wife testified she was a passenger in the car Dec. 19 and heard the car hit “something metal.”
Asked by her attorney whether she had seen Ortiz-Delgado as they approached the crosswalk, she said, “no” and that Ortiz-Delgado was dressed “in dark clothes.” Asked whether Ortiz-Delgado had been in the crosswalk, she said, “no.”
Chief Fred Ryan said recently that the case remains under investigation by his department. He wrote:
As you know, our investigation involves interviewing of operators, witnesses and collection of evidence at the crash scene, etc., as well as a crash analysis done by the state police. Once the investigation is complete, the matter will be handed over to the Middlesex DA’s Office for any decision on what, if any, other criminal charges will be sought.
Just before 10 p.m. Dec. 19, Giragosian was driving with a license that expired in June 2013 when his black Mercedes hit Ortiz-Delgado, who was pushing a walker with a basket in a crosswalk at Orvis Road, police said. She died at Massachusetts General Hospital.
First described as homeless, Ortiz-Delgado actually lived in the Daniel F. Burns Apartments, a Cambridge Housing Authority property, Blackett told YourArlington in January.
She arranged and paid for Ortiz-Delgado’s cremation. The woman’s ashes remain in her apartment at Burns, and she continues to seek relatives.
The Massachusetts Avenue Corridor Project, which is underway, includes plans to improve the intersection where Ortiz-Delgado died, which includes the area’s longest crosswalk without traffic signals.
A version of this story originally appeared on YourArlington.com.
Previous story: Burial of traffic accident victim from public housing inches forward, like investigation
Next story: Motor-vehicle homicide charges brought for death of North Cambridge woman
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
