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Juan Martinez pleaded guilty Tuesday, Sept. 27, to vehicular homicide in the wreck that killed Dana Mazola on June 25, 2020, the Essex County District Attorney's Office said. A judge sentenced him to serve a year of a two-and-a-half year prison sentence with six months of house arrest when he's released, the prosecutor said. He must also forfeit his license for 15 years.
Martinez was driving near 317 along Jefferson Avenue in Salem just after 11 p.m. when his 2015 Ford Fusion crossed the double yellow lines and collided with Mazola's Toyota Corolla, authorities said. Officials rushed Martinez and Mazola to an area hospital, but the 31-year-old police officer died of his wounds.
Investigators said Martinez was driving between 47 and 55 miles per hour in the 25-mph zone when he lost control of his car.
Mazola's wife of 30 years, Florence, asked the judge for justice in a victim's statement. She wanted Martinez to serve the maximum sentence of two and a half years behind bars.
"(My husband) died from the actions of a man who chose to drive his car in a lethal manner," she wrote, according to Salem News.
Mazola, a 31-year veteran of the Salem Police Department, had two daughters.
"My dad was the definition of a perfect father and a real-life superhero," Savannah Mazola told the court, according to the newspaper.
Mazola's death was a heavy blow to the tight-knit community. Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll called Mazola's death "an unimaginable and heartbreaking loss."
"Dana was a conscientious and professional officer, a loving husband and father, and a devoted public servant to the people of Salem. He was, as we say, the ‘salt of the earth’ — a conscientious rank and file patrol officer who worked hard every single shift," Driscoll wrote in 2020. "... Dana had a big heart and was a warm and caring family man."
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