Medfield teen pleads not guilty to charges in Cape Cod boat crash that killed teen girl

Crime

David Sullivan, 19, is facing charges in connection with the death of 17-year-old Sadie Mauro, who died in a July boat crash in Dennis.

A 19-year-old Medfield man has pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with a Cape Cod boat crash that killed a 17-year-old girl from Sherborn.

Prosecutors allege that Medfield resident David Sullivan was impaired while driving a boat that crashed into a jetty in Dennis on July 21, resulting in the death of Sadie Mauro, as well as serious injuries to two other passengers. He was arraigned in Barnstable Superior Court on Tuesday. 

Sullivan is charged with boat homicide caused by being under the influence of liquor, two counts of operation of a boat while under the influence of liquor causing serious bodily injury, boat homicide by reckless or negligent operation, possession of alcohol by someone under 21, and possession of false RMV documents.

Judge Thomas Perrino set bail at $50,000 surety and $5,000 cash, according to court records. Sullivan is due back in court Dec. 14, WBZ-TV reported. 

David Meier, Sullivan’s lawyer, has characterized the boat crash as an accident, The Boston Globe reported. 

“What occurred that night was an unimaginable tragedy,” Meier said. “But what occurred was an accident in every sense of the word. These criminal charges only compound that tragedy for everyone involved.”

Sullivan’s lawyer wrote in a bail motion that his client has no prior criminal record, and that Mauro was Sullivan’s girlfriend, the Globe reported. He also pushed back against the allegation that his client was drunk at the time of the crash, arguing that after the crash, Sullivan showed “sound judgment and coordinated motor skills.”

Meier wrote that even though Sullivan was thrown from the boat by the crash, he managed to swim back to it in the darkness, get back onto it, and turn off the engines, the Globe reported. Sullivan then dove back into the water to find the other passengers, his lawyer wrote.

Sullivan also interacted with law enforcement several times that night and was able to give them the names of everyone who had been on the boat, Meier wrote, according to the Globe. Additionally, Sullivan’s lawyer wrote that his client was never asked to take a breathalyzer or field sobriety test. 

Sullivan was a “star” defenseman on Roxbury Latin School’s varsity lacrosse team, the Globe reported. Meier wrote that his client is now a freshman in college. 

Mauro, who was a rising senior at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School, was also a lacrosse player. She has been remembered as a great athlete.