A Plymouth Superior Court judge on Thursday sentenced a Marshfield man to serve life in prison with a chance of parole after more than two decades behind bars for driving drunk during a 2019 crash that killed a 13-year-old girl.
Gregory P. Goodsell, 36, learned his fate at a hearing that included emotional impact statements from relatives of Claire Rose Zisserson and two others who were seriously hurt in the crash.
“To know Claire was to love Claire,” her father, Kenneth Zisserson, said from the witness stand as Goodsell sat nearby with his lawyers.
Zisserson, pausing repeatedly to compose himself, recounted the wrenching final hours of his daughter’s life at the hospital after the crash on Dec. 29, 2019, in Pembroke.
“It’s not natural to see your daughter laying on an imaging board, motionless,” he said. “I remember asking the nurse, ‘Can she hear us?’ And she replied, ‘I hope so.’”
People have told him so many times that they can’t imagine the pain his family has endured, he said.
No one, he said, should have to see a “beautiful daughter’s mangled face and body after just seeing her verdant and full of life a few hours earlier,” he said. “It’s not natural to be handed a pen to approve your daughter’s organ donation. That should have been the other way around.”
His daughter was as innocent as a child could be, he said.
“This is a multigenerational tragedy,” Zisserson said. “I’ll remind the court that the defendant issued Claire a death sentence that fateful Sunday morning. Everyone in this courtroom and beyond who knew and loved Claire has received a life sentence of torturous grief.”
Goodsell was convicted last month of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence, two counts of OUI causing serious injury, and leaving the scene of property damage.
Zisserson said his family wanted Goodsell to serve consecutive sentences for the murder conviction and for injuring his wife Elizabeth Zisserson and Claire’s friend, 13-year-old Kendall Zemotel, in the crash.
“If or when the defendant is released from prison, his penchant for disregarding norms, mores, and laws deeply concerns me that he will devastate another family and community,” Zisserson said.
After the impact statements, Judge Diane Freniere sentenced Goodsell to serve a life term with parole eligibility after 20 years for the murder, followed by an eight-year sentence for seriously injuring Zemotel. That sentence will run concurrently with a six-year sentence for injuring Elizabeth Zisserson.
Goodsell will receive credit for the nearly five years he has been held while the case is pending, meaning he’ll serve at least 23 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Shortly before 7 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2019, Goodsell sped through a red light in a Ford F-250 truck and hit a white Subaru, prosecutors said. The three people inside the Sunbaru were taken to South Shore Hospital. The girls were later taken to a Boston hospital, where Claire died, prosecutors said.
Goodsell’s truck, which belonged to his employer, HiWay Safety Systems Inc., sustained heavy front-end damage and was fully turned around when police arrived, prosecutors said. Investigators found a bottle of whiskey, a beer can, two nip bottles, marijuana, and a pipe inside Goodsell’s car. Investigators determined that Goodsell was intoxicated and under the influence of cocaine at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.
Freniere also sentenced Goodsell to 12 years for manslaughter, to run concurrently with the murder sentence. She sentenced him to probation for leaving the scene, which he’ll serve if he receives parole.
“For the amount of pain that I have caused, both emotionally and physically, how could I possibly think saying sorry for my actions that morning are good enough to anybody involved in this absolutely devastatingly tragic accident?” a tearful Goodsell said before sentencing.
Freniere voiced empathy for the victims’ families but said she could not base her sentencing on emotion.
“Mr. Goodsell’s conduct caused such a tragic result,” Freniere said from the bench. “The loss of an innocent young woman, Claire Rose Zisserson, and the devastating impact on her family and the community, and the serious physical and emotional injuries to Kendall Zemotel and Elizabeth Zisserson.”
The judge praised members of Claire’s family who spoke about her during Thursday’s hearing.
“All of your impact statements and letters give me a little glimpse into the beauty and light that you’ve described that was lost,” Freniere said.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz also said the affected families had suffered greatly.
“Every decision comes with a consequence, and if Gregory Goodsell had made several different choices that fateful night, Claire would still be with us today,” Cruz said in a statement. “I am hopeful these two families and all that had their lives torn apart by this horrific crash can start to heal a bit, and feel some sense of closure with this sentencing.”
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.