A new memorial honors the victims of the New Hampshire motorcycle crash that killed 7
“It’s something special to see, I hope a lot of people see it."
A memorial featuring vibrant sculptures of the motorcycles ridden by the seven people killed in a deadly crash in Randolph, New Hampshire, in June was recently unveiled.
The installation sits outside the Mount Jefferson View Motel, where the members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club spent the night before they were killed in the crash involving a pickup truck with a trailer on U.S. 2 on June 21.
“It’s something special to see, I hope a lot of people see it,” Manny Ribeiro, club president, told The Boston Globe after a ceremony was held Saturday.
The memorial was conceived and donated by Justin Spencer, a New Hampshire native who created the retail store, Chaos and Kindness, and the Las Vegas-based band, Recycled Percussion, the newspaper reports. It was built by Summit Metal Fabricators in Plaistow.
“Today was NOT about us, it was about creating something that would forever be a memory and tribute to those lost,” Recycled Percussion wrote on its Facebook page Saturday.
The color of each motorcycle matches the ones ridden by those who were killed: Daniel Pereira, 58; Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, a married couple, both 58; Aaron Perry, 45, and his girlfriend, Desma Oakes, 42; Michael Ferazzi, 62; and Albert “Woody” Mazza, Jr., 59.
The driver of the truck, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, of West Springfield, was charged with seven counts of negligent homicide and has pleaded not guilty.
On Monday, Zhukovskyy was indicted on 16 new charges, including aggravated DWI, reckless conduct, and seven counts each of manslaughter and negligent homicide-DUI, WMUR reports.
Ribeiro told the Globe that the memorial, which features metal angel wings extending from each motorcycle, was “spot on.”
“We wanted it accurate so nobody forgets anything about it, and they really killed it,” Ribeiro told the newspaper. “They knocked it out of the park.”
According to the Globe, Spencer also gifted a $21,000 check to the club to help the victims’ families. He intends to cover the cost for an extension of the motel’s parking lot that will provide more space for visitors, the newspaper says.
A memorial at the site of the crash is also anticipated to be built in the spring, the newspaper reports.
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