Prosecutor: Argument over infidelity led to fatal crash; Defense: police ‘rushed to judgment’ in charging innocent client

MANCHESTER, NH – Enraged after an argument with Michael Shattuck over her infidelity, Ailadi Abreu drove her car at 70 mph through a Granite Street intersection, colliding head-on with another car, killing Shattuck, her passenger, according to a prosecutor.

The defense, however, told a Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District jury that Shattuck’s death was a “tragic accident.”  Manchester police, defense attorney Alayna Trilling told the jury, a “tragic accident” is not a crime and that her client is innocent because investigators made a “rush to judgement” in charging Abreu, 37, of Derry.  Investigators, she said, never completed a “vehicle autopsy” of the car to determine if there were any mechanical defects.

Abreu is being tried on charges of negligent homicide, manslaughter and two counts of reckless conduct.

The fatal crash happened on March 23, 2023, late in the afternoon and at the height of rush hour.  Shattuck, 32, of Hampton, died at the scene, even though bystanders pulled him from the car and performed CPR on him.

Abreu was pinned in the wreckage, which had to be cut away to remove her.  She suffered serious injuries including broken bones in her feet, knee, hip and shoulder. She was transported to the Elliot Hospital where she underwent several surgeries.

Hillsborough County Assistant Attorney Francis J. Coffey, in his 10-minute opening statement, told jurors that Abreu sped down the I-293 off-ramp to Granite Street after arguing with Shattuck.  She passed a vehicle on the right, before continuing at 70 mph into the Granite Street intersection causing a “devastating” crash that “left Michael dead” and seriously injured her.

He played a video of the crash, recorded from a dash cam of a vehicle parked at the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts. The video recorded Abreu’s car speeding through the intersection and crashing into a 2019 BMW operated by Barbara Louise Letvinchuck, 64.  Once hit, Letvinchuck’s car spun counter-clockwise and struck a 2013 Chevrolet Suburban operated by Austynn Trombley, 27.  Three children were in Trombley’s vehicle.

Coffey also told the jurors they will hear the 911 call from a “distraught witness” who told the dispatcher that “someone just flew” by her on the south side off-ramp, almost hitting her.

Trilling, in her 10-minute opening statement on Wednesday, said police had “tunnel vision” when investigating the case.  Investigators never performed a complete vehicle autopsy – inspection of the lights, brakes, tires and steering systems – on the mangled 2012 black Acura; never checked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website for any defects or complaints filed about the 2012 Acura; never reviewed the car’s history, or checked the car’s inspection history, documents for which were in the car.

She said the Manchester Police Department’s accident reconstruction team, because of the extensive damage to the car, “did the bare minimum” when it came to inspecting it for any mechanical defects.

Abreu, she said, purchased the car from a JD Byrider branch in Manchester, which closed abruptly in the year after the accident. Why, she asked, didn’t police look into why that was?

In court documents, the defense said there were numerous consumer complaints about JD Byrider concerning non-disclosed mechanical issues, resulting in difficulties with enforcing warranty policies purchased from the business.  Many of the complaints concerned vehicles bought there between 2022 and December 2023.

The defense, in court documents, also said the Attorney General’s Office confirmed its consumer division is investigating JD Byrider but said it is unclear what specifically is being investigated because the Attorney General’s Office has “repeatedly fought defense efforts to learn more information about this investigation, including by moving to quash a defense subpoena duces tecum specifically seeking this information.”

Trilling said Abreu only purchased the vehicle, which had 140,000 miles on it, on March 1, 2023, several weeks prior to the crash.

She said when investigators asked about Abreu whether she had been fighting with Shattuck and deliberately crashed the car, Abreu began crying and sobbing, and said, “No.  Michael was the love of her life.”

After the lawyers’ opening remarks, jurors were taking on a view of the intersection where the fatal crash happened.

The trial is expected to last five days.