SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A Massachusetts woman died in a single-car crash on Friday, nearly two months after her mother and 10-year-old daughter were shot and killed by a man who then turned the gun on himself, according to a report.
Stephanie Croteau died in the crash just after midnight on Friday in Springfield, according to law enforcement authorities. Police did not release further details regarding the traffic fatality, Law&Crime reported.
Croteau’s mother and 10-year-old daughter were killed, and another daughter, 12, injured in a vicious murder-suicide in August, according to the news outlet.
“There are no words to express what the Croteau family must be going through. Our heartfelt thoughts, prayers, sympathy and words of encouragement go out to the family, especially to the children,” Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a joint statement with Francena Brown, Executive Director for Families Against Violence. “It’s just unbelievable that the family is beset with back-to-back tragedies.”
On Aug. 14, a gunman, identified as 34-year-old Victor Nieves, forced entry into his downstairs neighbor’s residence in Springfield and opened fire, the Hampden District Attorney’s Office said. He shot Croteau’s mother Kim Fairbanks, 52, who along with the family dog was pronounced dead at the scene. He then went to a bedroom where he fired at Fairbanks’ granddaughters ages 12 and 10. Her 5-year-old grandson was physically unharmed.
Responding officers found Nieves dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the apartment. The 10-year-old girl, Aubrianna Lynn, was airlifted to a hospital where she later died on Aug. 17. The 12-year-old survived her injuries.
Nieves’ girlfriend, Monica Sanchez, spoke to MassLive.com. She said her boyfriend was under the influence of cocaine and over-the-counter drugs when he went berserk. He reportedly became paranoid of “someone outside waiting to kill him” before running downstairs and shooting his neighbors.
“The oldest girl, when she came out with blood all over her, she said: ‘Victor shot us, and he shot himself.’ So I ran back inside and saw him on the floor, and I just fell down,” Sanchez told the outlet.
Croteau was away from home at work when the bloodbath occurred. Later that day, she wrote in a Facebook post, “At 12:56pm, my princess Aubrianna Lynn’s heart stopped beating. It was peaceful, she was not in any pain. She was surrounded by her family. My whole heart has been completely ripped out of my chest. It’s shattered. It hurts. The pain I feel is unbearable.”
Hours before her death on Friday, Croteau posted her last Facebook photo that shows her two surviving children lying on a blanket at Aubrianna Lynn’s gravesite with the caption “Cuddles with Aubrie.”
