A grieving Massachusetts family is attempting to put the pieces together after a drunk driver killed a “sunny” 13-year-old girl in a cocaine-fueled crash.
Gregory Goodsell, 36, attended his company’s Christmas party in December 2019. Goodsell was so intoxicated that his co-workers said they tried to prevent him from driving, but he ignored them, the Boston Herald previously reported.
‘After Claire died, I didn’t want to live.’
Goodsell allegedly attended an after-party at a home before getting behind the wheel of his company truck. Police said Goodsell struck a tree while driving the white Ford F-250 truck, which broke his passenger-side headlight around 6:40 a.m. Dec. 29.
Goodsell reportedly ran a red light and smashed into a Subaru while he was drunk and high on cocaine in Pembroke.
“Through evidence and witness interviews, investigators determined that Goodsell was intoxicated with a BAC of 0.266, under the influence of cocaine, and passed through a red light at 67 miles per hour before broadsiding the Subaru,” the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz stated.
At the time of the crash, police found a bottle of whiskey, a beer can, two nip bottles, marijuana, and a pipe in Goodsell’s vehicle.
“I’m so [expletive] up. … I know I shouldn’t have been driving. … I can’t believe I did this. … I drank way too much, I’m so sorry,” Goodsell reportedly told police officers at the scene of the fatal crash.
Investigators determined that the Subaru broadsided by Goodsell contained 51-year-old driver Elizabeth Zisserson; her daughter, 13-year-old Claire Zisserson; and Claire’s 13-year-old friend Kendall Zemotel.
Claire was killed in the crash.
Her mother and friend suffered what the DA’s office described as “catastrophic injuries.”
Claire’s friend Kendall recalled standing “speechless” while looking at herself in the mirror for the first time at the hospital and seeing a large scar on her right cheek, under her eye, with a feeding tube coming out of her nose.
“Emotionally, I think about something that I know I shouldn’t, but I really can’t help myself — what I could have done to prevent this from happening to us,” Kendall wrote in an impact statement that was read by a prosecutor in the courtroom. “I could have just gone to the bathroom before we left the house that day or taken a little longer to get ready. … I could have saved Claire’s life if I was a minute late to everything I did that morning.”
Kendall added, “Claire was my best friend, the sister I never had, and my twin. Claire was always there for me before I even realized I needed someone. It is so extremely hard to process that Claire is gone. She deserved so, so, so much more out of life.”
Claire’s mother said that her emotional scars will never heal.
“After Claire died, I didn’t want to live,” Zisserson said in court as she wiped away tears. “The ache of Claire’s loss is overwhelming to me.”
“My world changed the day that Claire was killed. I don’t recognize the person I am today, versus the one I used to be,” the heartbroken mother explained. “I was a super-busy mom juggling sports, Scouts, carpools, school projects, away games, and everything else in daily life.”
“Life was happy and busy and crazy, and we talked about the future with hope and excitement, but now I function in survival mode ruled by loss, fear, and grief,” Zisserson added. “The car crash destroyed my life and caused a ripple effect of damage that can never be undone.”
“Our table of four is now three. Our house is quiet as a tomb,” she expressed. “The colors of our world are dull.”
‘Nobody should ever have to attempt to live through the pain that I’ve caused to all these people through my careless, destructive behavior.’
Claire’s father, Ken Zisserson, added, “One day Claire was here, and the next, she was gone forever.”
“When someone says, ‘I can’t even imagine,’ I reply, ‘You shouldn’t have to. It’s not natural,'” he noted.
Claire was described as “pure” and “sunny” by those who knew her best, according to the Patriot Ledger.
Late last month, a jury convicted Goodsell of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while operating under the influence, leaving the scene of property damage, and two counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury.
Before sentencing, the anguished mother asked the judge, “Please help me keep him from ever doing this again. He can watch the sunrise every day, but Claire won’t ever see another sunrise. And we won’t ever escape the devastation of losing Claire.”
Judge Diane Freniere sentenced Goodsell to life in prison for the murder charge and eight years in prison for seriously injuring Kendall, which will run concurrently with a six-year sentence for injuring Elizabeth Zisserson. Goodsell also will serve 12 years for manslaughter concurrently with the murder sentence.
Goodsell will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years.
“Judicial discretion does not commit to the court to assign a value to a victim’s life because every human life is incalculable,” the judge told Goodsell. “I have considered the life of an innocent, remarkable bright light, Claire Zisserson, a 13-year-old girl beloved by her family, and a compassionate and kind friend who was taken because of your criminal conduct.”
Goodsell said during sentencing, “I shamefully take responsibility for what happened.”
“Nobody should ever have to attempt to live through the pain that I’ve caused to all these people through my careless, destructive behavior,” Goodsell read from a prepared statement. “If I could go back to that day and die, instead of Claire, I would in a heartbeat.”
“The constant nightmares, never being able to sleep because of what I did that morning, that is something that I will carry with me for the remainder of my life,” he continued. “Sorry is an understatement. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
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