She beat cancer, then died in a car crash. Gisela Carrier's family says she deserves justice
She was a 16-year-old girl who conquered cancer, but was then tragically killed when a pickup truck piled into the car she was riding in, and now her family had come to court hoping for justice.
Her name was Gisela Carrier, and I'd had the chance to meet her at Hasbro Children’s Hospital when she was 12.
That can be an awkward age, but Gisela – pronounced J’zell-a – agreed to talk while getting chemotherapy in a port in her chest to show that cancer can be faced boldly.
Gisela loved Taylor Swift, swimming and Chinese food and was the kind of upbeat kid who, in the pediatric oncology waiting room, played with the smaller kids waiting for their turn.
The name of her cancer was lymphoblastic leukemia. She lived in Smithfield. Although divorced, her father, Daniel, an arborist, and mom Melanie, now with an accounting firm, were united as forever parents.
Except forever didn’t last long enough, because a man named Joseph Lemire was distracted while driving his pickup at 70 mph at 8 p.m. one night on Interstate 195 East in Seekonk.
And now, this past Wednesday morning, I was meeting the parents in front of the Massachusetts Trial Court in Taunton. They came with a half dozen other Carrier family members who hoped to make a difference by reading victim impact statements to the judge before he decided on the sentence.
Daniel, Gisela’s dad, had called me the night before. He’d heard that Lemire, who is 47 and lives in Johnston, was only going to get probation in return for pleading guilty. The Bristol County District Attorney, who is prosecuting the case, was asking for a year to serve.
“I know I’m not going to be happy with whatever sentence he gets,” Daniel told me, “because nothing’s going to replace my daughter. But to hear he may not get a single day in prison? I certainly don’t think that is justice.”
The family, said Daniel, is also upset that Lemire never reached out to say he was sorry. It would have helped, said Daniel, if, during the various hearings, Lemire had even glanced their way with an apologetic look, but that never happened.
The case has dragged on for four years – it kept getting pushed back by the defense. You would think that wouldn’t be allowed, but the system tends not to cater to the victims.
Gisela was born on March 11, 2003. The accident happened on March 1, 2020 – 10 days short of her 17th birthday.
Her mom had picked her up from Daniel’s Smithfield home, and they were soon driving back to New Bedford, where Melanie now lives. Their son, Dan, was in the front seat. Gisela was in the back.
On 195 East near the Seekonk exit, they had slowed to a stop because an accident ahead had backed up traffic. It was 8 p.m., and hundreds of brake lights were on.
You couldn’t miss it.
Except Joseph Lemire did.
An examination of his phone showed he was FaceTiming in his Chevrolet Silverado truck until a moment before he rear-ended Melanie’s 2001 Chrysler 300. Lemire had been going 71 mph. He braked just before it happened, but investigators felt the truck was going at least 67 mph at impact.
And now, at the Trial Court building, the family headed up the elevator to the third floor and sat on benches outside Courtroom 3. I asked Melanie how she has held up since losing Gisela. She told me she’s tried to put on a brave face, because you have to keep living, but the grief doesn’t get easier.
“You just get better at hiding it,” she said.
Then she got emotional and had to stop.
Melanie had crafted a long statement for the judge and had the pages in her hand. Other family members had papers, too, including Gisela’s younger brother, Dan, now 18.
Gisela would have now been 21.
When you are with such a family at a time like this, you see how important justice is to their healing. They were hoping for the year in prison the prosecution was requesting, but even a little jail time, they said, would force Joseph Lemire to reflect on what he’d done in a way you can’t when free.
Probation, they felt, would not be justice.
The assistant district attorney was Charles Schofield. He brought the family into a private room and told them how the hearing would unfold. Finally, it was time, and they all filed in, taking front-row seats just behind the railing that separated attendees from the attorneys and judge.
Lemire, wearing a dark suit, sat only yards away from the Carriers. He had a short beard and shaved head. He had agreed to plead guilty with the expectation of three years' probation, but the Carriers were hoping the judge would see their pain – and Lemire’s recklessness – and give more.
Schofield, the assistant DA, stood to explain why the commonwealth felt jail time was important. Yes, this was an accident, but Lemire was clearly distracted.
“The commonwealth charges not mere negligence,” he said, “but gross negligence.”
Looking back: Saying goodbye to Gisela Carrier, lost in a car crash on Route 195
He added: “A 16-year-old girl lost her life after fighting for it for a third of it.”
And he said Lemire has not vocalized remorse.
Now it was the family’s time.
Claudette Carrier, Gisela’s aunt and godmother, spoke first.
“She had a dream of becoming a nurse so she could help others as others helped her,” said Claudette.
She spoke for several moments, pausing often to collect herself. Finally, she asked that Lemire serve time to reflect on his actions.
Then it was the turn of Daniel, Gisela’s dad. He said he is a man of faith, but Gisela’s loss has left him disappointed in God.
He told the judge how Gisela always made honor roll and laughed at his corny dad jokes. How she was diagnosed with leukemia at age 8, overcame it, relapsed at 10 and finally was free of it again at 13. Five years, Daniel said, is a long time for a child to fight, but his daughter never gave up.
“Gisela,” Daniel said, “still is my little princess, and I love her dearly.”
As he spoke, you could see the importance of victim impact statements. Families put enormous effort into them. They are a way of bringing alive their loved one. They believe deeply, as they should, that their words might have some influence.
“To think he may get off without serving one single day in jail seems just plain wrong,” Daniel told the judge. “Please don’t let Mr. Lemire off with just probation. Gisela deserves better.”
The courtroom is a modern one, but, like most, it was designed to mute emotion and focus on facts, with the interior businesslike and sterile. But the family overcame that. Their words broke the heart.
Gisela’s brother, Dan, who was in the front seat of the car the night of the accident, stood up. He had to fight to compose himself, too. He said he missed everything about Gisela.
“I even miss bugging her,” Dan said, “just some sibling stuff. You know what I mean.”
He said she was his best friend, and now when he comes home, she’s not there. The hardest part, he told the judge, is thinking of all that Gisela is missing.
At last, Gisela’s mom, Melanie, stood.
“We buried Gisela on her 17th birthday,” she said, “a birthday she worked so hard to see.”
Melanie had looked forward to one day helping Gisela pick out a wedding dress, and instead, alone, she had to pick out a dress for her daughter’s funeral. She chose white.
She went on at length, every word powerful, bringing Gisela alive in the courtroom.
“How is this justice for Gisela,” she said, “if there’s no time served? People who make bad decisions have to make atonement. He needs to sit in a jail cell and think about it.”
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Now the defense attorney, John Calcagni of Providence, rose to speak. Joseph Lemire, he said, indeed has been devastated by this, and his family gave past court statements saying how distressed he was. But for legal reasons, he had not been able to make a statement of apology.
But now he would.
Lemire stood.
He had to choke out the words. He turned toward the family and wept as he told them how sorry he was.
But he only spoke for a minute or so. You might have expected more.
Up on the bench, Judge Michael Brennan was presiding.
He was ready to rule.
You waited for him to acknowledge the emotional testimony of the family.
He barely did.
He did say he would require Lemire to write a letter of apology.
Then, in brief remarks, he issued the sentence.
Joseph Lemire, Judge Brennan ruled, would serve three years' probation.
Zero jail time.
And then it was over.
I rode the elevator down with Gisela’s loved ones. There were tears and a feeling of shock.
They felt the judge had failed to honor their family, and let down Gisela Carrier, a child of light, lost too soon because of Joseph Lemire’s negligence.
They felt Judge Michael Brennan did not give her justice.
They’re not wrong.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Driver in crash that killed Gisela Carrier given probation: Patinkin
