Man who caused crash that killed new father faced charges in 2015 murder

Kevin Quinn with his newborn daughter.Facebook photo

The Fall River man who caused a deadly head-on crash that killed a Cape Cod father on Saturday was released on personal recognizance last month on drunk driving charges in Barnstable County despite also facing charges related to a 2015 Fall River murder, records show.

Mickey A. Rivera was driving a Toyota sedan Saturday when he was pursued by Mashpee police on Route 28 into Cotuit, where his sedan collided head-on with an SUV being driven by Kevin P. Quinn. Quinn, a Marine veteran, was returning to his Mashpee home after visiting his wife and newborn daughter at the hospital.

Rivera, 22, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Quinn, 32, was extricated from the tangled wreckage of his SUV and was rushed to South Shore Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. A GoFundMe account has been set up for his widow, Kara, and their daughter, Logan. By 1 a.m. Tuesday, almost $210,000 had been raised.

Quinn served two tours in Afghanistan and, since leaving the Marines, had operated his own business in the Cape Cod town, according to friends.

The crash is being investigated by Barnstable and Mashpee police.

Rivera was spotted by a Mashpee officer driving erratically and speeding Saturday, leading the officer to begin a pursuit that at times reached 65 miles per hour, according to police audio transmissions recorded by Broadcastify.

It was not known what triggered Rivera’s decision to flee from police. But Rivera’s criminal history, obtained by the Globe, showed that an arrest Saturday night could have sent him behind bars for an extended period of time.

Rivera appeared in court on June 4 for drunk driving, operating under the influence of drugs, and operating negligently in Barnstable County. The circumstances surrounding the arrest and what police agency handled the case were not available.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance, according to court records. He apparently kept a court date on July 9 and was next to appear on the drunk driving case on Aug. 7, records show.

At the time of the drunk driving arrest, Rivera was already under indictment in Bristol Superior Court for his alleged role in a 2015 murder in Fall River. He was freed on $1,000 cash bail in that case, according to records and Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s office.

Under state law, prosecutors can — and often do — ask a judge to find that a defendant who is free on bail should be sent to jail because they got arrested on a new, unrelated charge.

According to Quinn’s office, Rivera was due in Bristol Superior Court on Tuesday for the latest hearing on the four-count indictment he was facing in connection with the March 20, 2015, fatal shooting of Anthony Carvalho.

Quinn’s office had charged Rivera with misleading police, armed assault with intent to rob, attempted armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Quinn’s office said in a statement Monday.

Rivera, who was listed as being homeless at the time of the 2015 shooting, pleaded not guilty to all charges in Bristol Superior Court in Fall River on July 2, 2015. Bail was set at $35,000 cash, prosecutors wrote.

He remained jailed on that bail until Sept. 19, 2017, when defense attorneys cited a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling that required judges to set a bail that mirrors a defendant’s financial status.

In Rivera’s case, according to prosecutors, Superior Court Judge Thomas McGuire reduced Rivera’s bail to $1,000 cash, an amount that he was able to post.

Prosecutors had objected to reducing Rivera’s bail.

“I was very disappointed the court reduced the defendant’s bail so drastically, based on the defendant’s criminal record and the serious nature of the charges,” Quinn said in the statement.

Rivera was also charged in March 2015 with armed and masked home invasion, armed assault, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, in connection with the stabbing of two women in Taunton, proseuctors said.

Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges because the victims could not identify Rivera, and the only other independent witness had a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, leaving law enforcement without the evidence needed to proceed with the case.

Rivera was also prosecuted in Falmouth District Court in 2015 for an assault while he was jailed.

Rivera assaulted a man identified in court records as Mayner Feliciano by kicking him in the head while both were in the Barnstable jail. According to disciplinary reports in the court file, at 1:13 p.m. on July 11, 2015, a correction officer looked over the recreation deck and saw Rivera kicking Feliciano in the head.

The officer hit an alarm and ordered the unit to “lock in,” then notified central control of the fight via a portable phone.

A minute later, several deputies responded and the two inmates were restrained. Felciano suffered a facial fracture, according to court records.

Rivera was arraigned on July 30, 2015, for charges of assault and battery. On May 25, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of assault and battery, according to court documents.

Rivera’s passenger in Saturday’s crash, Jocelyn Goyette, 24, of New Bedford, was in critical condition Sunday, officials said.

Quinn and his wife, Kara, had been celebrating the July 25 birth of their first child, Logan Audrey Quinn, at Cape Cod Hospital this weekend. Quinn was on his way home in advance of bringing his wife and daughter home from the hospital, according to a family friend.