Haverhill: Wife wins $8.5 million in husband's motorcycle death, fights to keep other driver in prison

By Mike LaBella
Staff Writer

March 02, 2008 07:46 am

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A Haverhill woman has been awarded $8.5 million in a civil suit against a speeding driver who struck and killed her husband outside their home.

But Jackie Monahan may never see a dime of it. Alexis Ortiz, who was 22 at the time of the March 18, 2006, incident, had no insurance when he struck and killed Larry Monahan as he rode his new motorcycle in front of his home.

Jackie Monahan is taking some satisfaction in knowing that Ortiz will remain behind bars. At a Massachusetts Parole Board hearing in Natick on Thursday, Monahan, with family by her side and armed with hundreds of letters of support, staved off Ortiz's attempt to gain an early release.

"During the hearing he finally admitted he'd been drinking the day he killed Larry," said Monahan, formerly of Salem, N.H. "I think Ortiz was looking for sympathy."

Larry Monahan, whom friends and relatives described as a talented mechanic with a good heart who did countless good deeds for friends and strangers, had bought the teal-colored 2004 Harley Davidson Road Glide just hours earlier that morning in Hampton, N.H.

He was riding off from home on what should have been a 10-minute errand. It was about 4:15 p.m.

Traveling at an estimated 81 mph, Ortiz's careening Saturn sedan skidded into the 54-year-old Monahan. Police said he was crushed between his new motorcycle and the spinning car, then thrown to the pavement.

Ortiz, of 27 Victor St., Apt. 21, Haverhill, pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and vehicular homicide and in March 2007 was sentenced to 21/2 years in prison. He was to serve two years and was also sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered not to drive for 15 years. Letters in support of keeping Ortiz locked up were sent to the Parole Board by members of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association and members of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Survivors Fund.

Paul Cote, president of the survivors fund, and director of government relations for the motorcycle association, said his members were encouraged to send letters opposing Ortiz's early release.

"Jackie asked us for our support," Cote said. "From where we stand, Ortiz made a plea bargain and accepted his two years. It was offensive to a lot of people that he tried to go back on that deal."

In Essex Superior Court last week, Monahan was awarded $7.5 million in her civil suit against Alexis Ortiz and his father, Juan Ortiz, and $1 million in punitive damages in her suit against Alexis Ortiz. She said Alexis Ortiz was driving his father's uninsured vehicle at the time he killed her husband.

"This is an obligation on their part, but I really don't expect to see the $8.5 million," Monahan said. "I don't expect to live off the Ortiz family, but I'd like something for our family and our lives."

When Larry and Jackie Monahan were married in 1999, it was the second marriage for each of them. And it was nothing short of blissful, Jackie Monahan said. It was a combined family as well — he had one child, now 29, and she had two, now 27 and 31. The couple lived in Salem for seven years, moving to Haverhill a year before the accident.

"Larry and I had a good life together," she said.

She said it was a life filled with simple pleasures such as sitting on the couch together on a Sunday morning to watch drag racing on television followed by a cookout in the backyard. There were frequent trips to local flea markets, and walks on the beach.

"Friday night was pizza night," Monahan said. "Larry was a gift and I never had more in my life than when Larry was part of it. Alexis Ortiz stole something precious."

Larry Monahan worked as a mechanic at Manchester (N.H.) Subaru. Jackie Monahan works as a legal assistant. She said there is never enough money to do all the things that need to be done, such as fixing a leaky roof.

"Without Larry I don't even qualify for my current mortgage," she said. "Money is very tight even though I have a good job. This life was supposed to be meant for two people."

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