Families of a murder suspect and his alleged victim came to blows after a court hearing Tuesday, with part of the altercation caught on video.
Court officers stepped in to separate members of the families of Ryan Sweatt, who was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of murder, and 26-year-old Destini Decoff, who was killed in what prosecutors have labeled a case of road rage that occurred on April 4.
Sweatt, 36, had pleaded not guilty to charges of “assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, operating to endanger and a marked lanes violation,” WBZ-TV reported, but now faces a murder charge after Decoff succumbed to her injuries while on life support.
“Now that the woman he is accused of hitting has died, emotions have become a tidal wave,” WBZ reporter Christina Hager said.
You can see WBZ’s report on the arraignment below.
Sweatt claims that Decoff and four men “allegedly jumped out of their vehicle, surrounded him and threatened him” after an incident that occurred on Route 85 in Hopkinton, according to the outlet.
Sweatt reportedly told a police officer, “They’re trying to kill me,” but investigators say Sweatt escaped the threatening situation, made two U-turns, ran Decoff over and then fled the scene.
The prosecuting attorney said at the hearing that Decoff had flown 50 to 75 feet as a result of the impact.
Have you ever been a victim of road rage?
Yes: 67% (2 Votes)
No: 33% (1 Votes)
One witness told the outlet that Sweatt hit Decoff so hard with his car that he “clothes flew off.”
According to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, witnesses agreed that Sweatt came back to the scene before running Decoff down, and surveillance video from a nearby pub appeared to corroborate that version of events, not Sweatt’s.
Police did say, however, that a knife was recovered at the scene.
“He murdered my niece,” her aunt, Dawn Anderson, told WBZ. “Destini will get her justice somehow, some way, but that family is sick, sick, sick, sick.”
Anderson was bleeding for a neck wound that she told WFXT she received when she was attacked by Sweatt’s girlfriend.
“She was beautiful inside and out she would do anything for anyone,” her mother, Tracy Decoff, told WFXT.
“It was murder and it was intentional,” she added. “If Massachusetts had the death penalty that’s what I would want.”
An attorney for Sweatt, however, denied that his client had tried to hurt anyone.
“This is not a road rage case as reported by the media,” the defense attorney said in a statement cited by WFXT. “This was an accident that resulted when Ryan tried to get away from the group of people who came out of their car to attack him. He did not see the person who was struck.
“He stopped his car after the impacted [sic] and cooperated with the police. There is a lot more to what was reported in the news and as the facts come to light, I am confident it will become obvious this was a just a tragic accident. Ryan is a peaceful person who has always maintained a clean record with a long history of gainful employment. He was going home from work when the accident happened.”
There were no immediate reports of charges to be filed against any of the family members involved in the incident.
Sweatt has been held without bail since the April 4 incident.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of “WJ Live,” powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
