
Suffolk Law grad accused of drunken driving, killing Boston man not a ‘gang kid’: Attorney
An attorney for a Suffolk Law graduate accused of driving drunk and crashing into a 73-year-old Boston man who later died from his injuries said his client is “not an 18-year-old gang kid,” when recommending conditions for her potential release.
Cambridge Judge David Frank has increased cash bail for Lauren Mullins, 32, of Roselle Park, N.J., from $15,000 to $65,000, ordering the defendant to GPS home confinement, a SCRAM device, and to surrender her passport if she posts bail
Mullins is accused of causing a multi-vehicle crash early last Friday morning at the busy Cambridge intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street. She allegedly crashed the SUV she had been operating into a moped and subsequently into an MIT Police cruiser, both of which were traveling eastbound ahead of Mullins’ vehicle.
Emergency responders took the operator of the moped, Daniel O’Neil, to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he died on Sunday, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Kailey Verni said during a bail hearing on Thursday.
Frank approved all of Verni’s recommendations except that the cash bail be increased to $100,000 from the $15,000 set during Mullins’ arraignment hours after the crash last Friday. Mullins’ bail was revoked on a pending case out of Boston Municipal Court.
Mullins’ attorney Daniel Solomon called the $15,000 bail “more than adequate” and requested that if his client met that amount and was released, she wouldn’t be able to drive or drink.
“Home confinement? This is not an 18-year-old gang kid,” Solomon said.
Verni responded to the claim, saying: “While yes, this defendant might not be a young gang kid, through making the choice to get behind the wheel at 1:30 in the morning on a public road and taking the life of a completely innocent person, she is showing that she is dangerous out in the community.”
Cambridge Police arrested Mullins at the scene on charges of Operating Under the Influence – Liquor with Serious Bodily Injury and Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle.
Verni said while the crash remains under investigation, the prosecution intends to bring more charges against Mullins in a superior court. At the time of the crash, O’Neil suffered “serious bodily injury, but he was expected to survive,” she added.
“It should also be noted that officers were unable to conduct a standard field sobriety test due to the defendant’s belligerent nature and behavior,” Verni said, “but they did note that she had slurred speech and that she was extremely unsteady on her feet.”
BMC court records show Mullins has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disturbing the peace and trespass. Details were not immediately available Thursday.
Mullins also has a record in New Jersey that includes charges of “drunken and disorderly behavior on public sidewalks and roadways” and aggravated assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct in January
Mullins’ LinkedIn profile lists that she graduated from Boston University in 2014 before she gained a doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in 2019.
“She did have a bad year in the last year,” Solomon said of his client, “and she has had some issues, and those issues will be addressed.”
The attorney contrasted the fatal crash with “someone who gets into a bar fight and beats the hell out of somebody who is very badly hurt … and the person later dies.”
“This isn’t as bad as that,” he said.