A Cambridge teen died Wednesday from injuries from an Aug. 28 motor vehicle crash, officials said Thursday.
Jaden McDaniels, 16, was the passenger on a friend’s motorcycle zipping along Pleasant Street in Cambridgeport that ran into a Toyota RAV4 as it turned left from Putnam Avenue, according to a preliminary investigation by police. The kids sped through a stop sign, police believe.
The scene of the crash is a residential area, save for the Cambridge Gospel Hall church at the same corner.
Police responded to the crash at approximately 8:47 p.m., according to a Thursday press release from commissioner Christine Elow and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
The kids were taken to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston after first aid was tried on-scene by residents, Cambridge firefighters, EMTs and police officers. The driver of the motorcycle suffered non-life-threatening injuries, while McDaniels hung on for nine days before being pronounced dead at the hospital, Elow and Ryan said.
Their statement didn’t mention whether helmets were being worn by the teens, who are believed to have been attending Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.
In a letter to the CRLS community on Thursday, principal Damon Smith said McDaniels was “intelligent, caring and kind.”
“He had strong relationships with many students and staff in our community and we will miss him dearly,” Smith said. “Our school community extends our deepest sympathy to his family and loved ones.” Support was being offered Friday to students, who could see social workers and guidance counselors alone or get group support. The school was in touch with the Riverside Trauma Center about additional services for students, staff and the CRLS community, Smith said.
A visitation for the family was held from noon to 9 p.m. Friday in Roxbury. That evening, the high school’s football and volleyball games were postponed, Smith said in a communication to the community that went out after 7 p.m., after the games were expected to start.
The driver of the RAV4 and the passengers remained at the scene Aug. 28, police said. In the Thursday press release, police said there was an ongoing investigation into the crash being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Cambridge police and the Massachusetts State Police Crash Analysis and Reconstruction Section. No charges have been filed.
This post was updated Sept. 11, 2023, with news about a visitation and postponed high school sports events.
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“Their statement didn’t mention whether helmets were being worn by the teens, who are believed to have been attending Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.”
Some real ok boomer victim blaming going on here. Helmets aren’t designed to save your life in the event of a crash into one of these inane SUVs.
And let’s suppose that they weren’t wearing a helmet. This kids punishment for that mistake is death? And you’re implying that justifies the whole thing?
Shame on you.
what is the definition of an accident? you are so divisive and out of line. helmet or not, it is still a tragedy. let the investigators do their job.
I agree with Cambridgeresident. The focus of this article is off. Deciding to mention the lack of information about if the dead kid was wearing a helmet or not but not the fact that SUVs are statistically more dangerous for vulnerable road users because of their high grills hitting higher up on the body plus their lack of visibility and huge blind spots is a choice that obscures the real issues on our streets. so better.
Unfortunately the kids went thru a stop sign. There are now many small motorcycles and bikes that do not follow the rules of the road, city of Cambridge does not seem to care about that. So there will be more. It’s horrible what happened but the city needs to get tougher on those not following the rules of the road. They don’t seem to care!
This is so incredibly sad.
I totally understand this reaction, but I live near here and saw the immediate aftermath. Unfortunately I am pretty sure he didn’T wear a helmet and they were flying down Pleasant through the intersection. Although I agree that SUVs are very dangerous for other road users, unfortunately in this case it could’ve been a Smart car and the result would’ve been the same.
Just so sad. I cannot imagine getting that call as a parent. Sending all of my strength to his family and friends
And you know in general… this is tragic and devastating for a family. It’s also traumatic for the driver and passengers. So maybe we just all hold on our hot takes about road safety and appreciate life and how dear it is
The lack of empathy is astounding. Teenagers make mistakes and do dumb things, it is quite literally part of being a teenager. The punishment for a lapse in judgement shouldn’t be death.
You call me divisive and out of line. I say the young are fed up with the callousness and cruelty on display here and on our streets. “Oh, he wasn’t wearing a helmet and he didn’t stop, he had it coming!”
But at least the article ends by framing the drivers as saints for not committing a felony and fleeing the scene. What heroes! Absolved!
Where is equally valid sentence “Their statement didn’t mention whether or not the SUV driver was speeding at the time of the accident?”
No where is where, because the entire framing of this article and these comments is to blame the teenagers.
“unfortunately in this case it could’ve been a Smart car and the result would’ve been the same.” No it wouldn’t because a smart car does not hit people in the head or upper body the way SUVs do. You are also a lot less likely to get run over by a smart car than an SUV, which also makes crashes more deadly. The fact that it was specifically an SUV made this crash more likely to be deadly, that seems worth mentioning to me, especially since there is so much advertising pushing those vehicles as safer.
The driver of that car made a choice to buy a more expensive vehicle that puts other people in greater danger, even if the dead kid wasn’t wearing a helmet (and it is pure speculation on the authors part) the only person that put at risk by that was themself. We name and shame the wrong behaviors on our streets and consistently place responsibility in the wrong places. We need better presumed liability laws to change this conversation for good.