Published: Sunday, May 4, 2008
Car assault victim dies
Witnesses say argument over Red Sox-Yankees rivalry played a role in late-night incident that left Nashua man dead.
By PATRICK MEIGHAN Staff Writer
pmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com
NASHUA – The altercation that left a city man dead Friday stemmed partially from an argument over the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry, witnesses said Saturday.
Matthew Beaudoin, 29, and another pedestrian were struck by an intoxicated driver about 2 a.m. Friday after he and others had chanted "Yankees suck!" when they saw a Yankees sticker on the driver's car, witnesses said.
Beaudoin, of West Pearl Street, died late Friday night at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass., after he was taken off life support, a family member said.
Beaudoin and a friend were run down near the intersection of West Hollis and Elm streets by an intoxicated woman driving a maroon Dodge Intrepid, police said. The woman, who police identified as Ivonne Hernandez, 43, was arrested at the
• scene early Friday morning.
Public records show that Hernandez lived at 28 Major Drive in Nashua.
As Beaudoin clung to life Friday afternoon, Hernandez was charged with one felony count of aggravated driving while intoxicated and two felony counts of reckless conduct. Police wouldn't say Saturday if the charges would be upgraded as a result of Beaudoin's death.
Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning at Nashua District Court.
Hernandez gunned her vehicle across a gravel tire company parking lot and struck the men as they walked near the Elm Street parking lot behind City Hall, police said.
The other pedestrian struck received only minor injuries because Beaudoin shielded him, said the victim's sister, Faith Beaudoin, of Burke Street.
She described her brother as "a hero."
Police have released scant details about what led to the incident, which closed a section of Elm Street for about 14 hours on Friday while police meticulously documented the scene. But witnesses said a verbal altercation started inside Slade's Food and Spirits, a West Hollis Street bar.
Beaudoin was a well liked regular at Slade's, according to two bartenders. On Friday night, Hernandez walked into Slade's after she had been drinking at the 603 Lounge, a nearby bar on West Hollis Street, witnesses said.
Nikul Shah, one of the 603 owners, said Saturday that he didn't recognize Hernandez and didn't know if she frequented his place. <table style="margin: 10px; text-align: center;" align="left" bgcolor="#ca084e" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="172"> <tbody><tr> <td width="262">
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An argument inside Slade's intensified after Hernandez announced she was a Yankees fan, said Tanya Moran, 29, a bartender at Slade's. The argument spilled outside, and several people, including Beaudoin, began chanting "Yankees suck!" when they saw a Yankees sticker on Hernandez's car, Moran said.
Moran said she was at the bar during the argument.
Moran said she was horrified that somebody would run down Beaudoin because of a verbal argument that at least partly was over sports.
Several people who knew Beaudoin gathered at Slade's on Saturday evening and vented their anger at Hernandez.
"I don't know who would do something like that," Moran said.
How he died was hard for his friends to take, said Jessica O'Rourke, 24, a friend and another bartender at Slade's.
"It's different if it would have been a car accident. But this was intentional. It's just a horrible way of dying. Just thinking about it disgusts me," O'Rourke said.
Nobody deserved to die like Beaudoin did, Moran said. But you'd figure if somebody died that way, it would be a case of bad karma coming back on him, she said.
"Matt never disrespected anybody. He didn't have bad karma," Moran said.
Beaudoin's family gathered at Faith Beaudoin's home Saturday. Family members were too grief-stricken to talk about the incident, she said.
"Right now, we have a lot of family over. We're all trying to collect ourselves. None of us have slept," said Faith Beaudoin, 27.
She said her big brother was loved by family and friends.
"He was so damn big-hearted," she said.
Faith Beaudoin said her brother, a 1997 graduate of Nashua High School who worked dealing poker at Sharky's in Manchester and Nashua, was generous even in death.
"He was able to save five lives," she said.
Matthew Beaudoin's heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys and skin grafts were donated upon his death, she said.
"He was always helping people when he was alive, and he's still saving lives," Faith Beaudoin said, choking back tears.
Moran, 29, described Beaudoin as a quiet, polite guy she got to know when he hung out at Slade's. He was a regular who loved karaoke "even though he wasn't very good at it," and the musical selections he loved to sing ranged from rap to Johnny Cash, she said.
She would teasingly call him "Matty Sideburns," because of the long sideburns he sported.
She rarely saw Beaudoin have too much to drink, Moran said.
"He came to hang out. He didn't really drink much," she said.
"He was just a caring person. He would do anything for anyone," O'Rourke said.
"One of his friends was living with him for free because he needed a place to stay," she said.
Shawn Clancy, 26, said he didn't know Beaudoin as well as the others, but noted he came off as a nice, quiet guy.
"He seemed like an outstanding kid," Clancy said.
Patrick Meighan can be reached at 594-6518 or pmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com.
Car assault victim dies
Witnesses say argument over Red Sox-Yankees rivalry played a role in late-night incident that left Nashua man dead.
By PATRICK MEIGHAN Staff Writer
pmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com
NASHUA – The altercation that left a city man dead Friday stemmed partially from an argument over the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry, witnesses said Saturday.
Matthew Beaudoin, 29, and another pedestrian were struck by an intoxicated driver about 2 a.m. Friday after he and others had chanted "Yankees suck!" when they saw a Yankees sticker on the driver's car, witnesses said.
Beaudoin, of West Pearl Street, died late Friday night at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass., after he was taken off life support, a family member said.
Beaudoin and a friend were run down near the intersection of West Hollis and Elm streets by an intoxicated woman driving a maroon Dodge Intrepid, police said. The woman, who police identified as Ivonne Hernandez, 43, was arrested at the
• scene early Friday morning.
Public records show that Hernandez lived at 28 Major Drive in Nashua.
As Beaudoin clung to life Friday afternoon, Hernandez was charged with one felony count of aggravated driving while intoxicated and two felony counts of reckless conduct. Police wouldn't say Saturday if the charges would be upgraded as a result of Beaudoin's death.
Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning at Nashua District Court.
Hernandez gunned her vehicle across a gravel tire company parking lot and struck the men as they walked near the Elm Street parking lot behind City Hall, police said.
The other pedestrian struck received only minor injuries because Beaudoin shielded him, said the victim's sister, Faith Beaudoin, of Burke Street.
She described her brother as "a hero."
Police have released scant details about what led to the incident, which closed a section of Elm Street for about 14 hours on Friday while police meticulously documented the scene. But witnesses said a verbal altercation started inside Slade's Food and Spirits, a West Hollis Street bar.
Beaudoin was a well liked regular at Slade's, according to two bartenders. On Friday night, Hernandez walked into Slade's after she had been drinking at the 603 Lounge, a nearby bar on West Hollis Street, witnesses said.
Nikul Shah, one of the 603 owners, said Saturday that he didn't recognize Hernandez and didn't know if she frequented his place. <table style="margin: 10px; text-align: center;" align="left" bgcolor="#ca084e" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="172"> <tbody><tr> <td width="262">
Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom
A Nashua police officer surveys the scene on Elm Street behind City Hall on Friday morning. Matthew Beaudoin of Nashua died after he and another man were struck by a vehicle. </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
An argument inside Slade's intensified after Hernandez announced she was a Yankees fan, said Tanya Moran, 29, a bartender at Slade's. The argument spilled outside, and several people, including Beaudoin, began chanting "Yankees suck!" when they saw a Yankees sticker on Hernandez's car, Moran said.
Moran said she was at the bar during the argument.
Moran said she was horrified that somebody would run down Beaudoin because of a verbal argument that at least partly was over sports.
Several people who knew Beaudoin gathered at Slade's on Saturday evening and vented their anger at Hernandez.
"I don't know who would do something like that," Moran said.
How he died was hard for his friends to take, said Jessica O'Rourke, 24, a friend and another bartender at Slade's.
"It's different if it would have been a car accident. But this was intentional. It's just a horrible way of dying. Just thinking about it disgusts me," O'Rourke said.
Nobody deserved to die like Beaudoin did, Moran said. But you'd figure if somebody died that way, it would be a case of bad karma coming back on him, she said.
"Matt never disrespected anybody. He didn't have bad karma," Moran said.
Beaudoin's family gathered at Faith Beaudoin's home Saturday. Family members were too grief-stricken to talk about the incident, she said.
"Right now, we have a lot of family over. We're all trying to collect ourselves. None of us have slept," said Faith Beaudoin, 27.
She said her big brother was loved by family and friends.
"He was so damn big-hearted," she said.
Faith Beaudoin said her brother, a 1997 graduate of Nashua High School who worked dealing poker at Sharky's in Manchester and Nashua, was generous even in death.
"He was able to save five lives," she said.
Matthew Beaudoin's heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys and skin grafts were donated upon his death, she said.
"He was always helping people when he was alive, and he's still saving lives," Faith Beaudoin said, choking back tears.
Moran, 29, described Beaudoin as a quiet, polite guy she got to know when he hung out at Slade's. He was a regular who loved karaoke "even though he wasn't very good at it," and the musical selections he loved to sing ranged from rap to Johnny Cash, she said.
She would teasingly call him "Matty Sideburns," because of the long sideburns he sported.
She rarely saw Beaudoin have too much to drink, Moran said.
"He came to hang out. He didn't really drink much," she said.
"He was just a caring person. He would do anything for anyone," O'Rourke said.
"One of his friends was living with him for free because he needed a place to stay," she said.
Shawn Clancy, 26, said he didn't know Beaudoin as well as the others, but noted he came off as a nice, quiet guy.
"He seemed like an outstanding kid," Clancy said.
Patrick Meighan can be reached at 594-6518 or pmeighan@nashuatelegraph.com.
