Worcester: Driver found guilty of manslaughter in 2021 wreck that killed Jessica Simone

WORCESTER — Mfouad A. Faris, the driver in a 2021 crash that claimed the life of a passenger, Jessica L. Simone, after her 35th birthday celebration, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide by reckless operation.

Faris, 29, was comforted by his defense lawyer as a 12-member Worcester Superior Court jury read its verdict Thursday afternoon, after five hours of deliberations and a four-day trial.

For the charge of vehicular homicide, the jury also had the option to find Faris guilty of a lesser charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, instead of reckless operation.

The jury found Faris guilty as he was originally charged.

Simone, a hairdresser who at the time of the crash was studying to become a radiology technician, was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center the morning of Oct. 10, 2021, despite on-duty police officers rushing out of the nearby station to give first aid.

After the verdict, Simone’s mother, Mary Jane Simone, was allowed by Judge William J. Ritter to give a statement.

In a very emotional state and amid tears, Simone directed grieving words at Faris, who stood at the defense table with his head lowered.

“This isn’t a triumph,” said Mary Jane Simone. “There are no more celebrations, no more milestones with Jessica.

“She won’t witness her son’s prom, him graduating high school, all because you chose to be reckless with two innocent souls in your car.”

Faris, a quality engineer for a medical device company, was driving in the wrong lane before he slammed into an oncoming car on Goldsberry Street about 2 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2021. The crash caused Simone to be ejected from the car and into the parking lot of the nearby police station.

Faris was found by first responders in the back seat of the car. A police reconstruction officer said Monday that the hinge mechanism of the driver’s seat had snapped as a result of the crash.

A passenger in the front seat of the car was also transported to a hospital.

Daniel Bennett, a special prosecutor for the Worcester District Attorney's Office, said during the trial that Faris was drag racing with Fares N. Shaikh-Omar, then 20, while on their way home from the Compass Tavern after celebrating Simone’s 35th birthday with a group of friends.

Shaikh-Omar also faces manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges.

Throughout Faris’s trial, the jury was shown surveillance footage in which Shaikh-Omar's white BMW 335 overtakes Faris as traffic lights turned green on Summer Street near Thomas Street.

In another video, Faris’s blue Mitsubishi Lancer is then seen attempting to pass the white BMW in the wrong lane of travel.

While on the witness stand Wednesday, Faris denied that he was drag racing and said that he had not realized he was on the wrong side of the road until he was past the white car.

Defense lawyer Steven C. Goldwyn reiterated throughout the trial that Faris “righted the ship” after traveling in the left lane on Goldsberry Street, and had full control of the car before it hit a “big bump” on the road, sending the car into a tailspin, then crashing against a Subaru in the opposite lane.

The driver of the Subaru, Juliana Bahman of Worcester, said on the witness stand Monday that before the crash she noticed Faris’s car attempt to merge back into its lane as it drove “at a pretty significant speed,” losing control and coming into her lane right before the crash.

While Goldsberry Street has a speed limit of 30 mph, Officer Keith Garlick, a Worcester police reconstruction officer, said Monday that Faris’s Mitsubishi was traveling at an average of 53 mph.

Officer Thomas A. Feraco, also of the department’s reconstruction team, said that he calculated Faris’s speed using tire tracks near the crash site at about 71 mph.

Goldwyn disputed the numbers, claiming flaws in the method used by both members of the Police Department.

As they took the witness stand Monday, city police officers who were working at the time of the crash said it sounded like “a bomb went off.”

Finding Simone unconscious on the pavement, the officers rendered first aid, but to no avail; she was later pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Simone, who turned 35 on Sept. 26, 2021, was the daughter of Kevin Harkins, a man who disappeared from a Worcester pub in 1994. Three men were later convicted of murdering him.

Following the verdict, Faris was held without bail. As he was taken away by court officers, he exchanged words in Arabic with emotional family members before being taken away by court officers.

Faris is halfway through earning a master's degree and holds a bachelor's degree in biology, according to his witness statement. He came to the United States as a refugee from Syria and has been featured in publications in which he recounted his trek to escape war.

Two other charges, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and racing motor vehicle, were dropped.

He is due to appear in court for sentencing on March 28.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester: Driver found guilty in 2021 wreck that killed Jessica Simone