Massachusetts State Police: Multi-vehicle crash kills 21-year-old motorcycle rider

A 21-year-old Massachusetts man has been killed in a highway crash.

According to Dave Procopio of Massachusetts State Police, at 10:16 p.m. Wednesday, Massachusetts State Troopers responded to a crash on Route 95 north in Newburyport that involved several vehicles and resulted in the death of a motorcycle operator.

Preliminary investigation indicates that a 2005 Yamaha XVS110 was northbound when, according to witnesses two other nearby vehicles had a near-collision. The near-miss between those vehicles caused one of them to swerve into the Yamaha, causing the bike to overturn onto its side.

The Yamaha operator, Daniel E. Mena, 21, of Lynn, was separated from the bike and was on the roadway. Subsequently, a 2016 Subaru operated by a 49-year-old Newburyport woman was unable to stop or take evasive measures in time and struck the motorcycle, the victim, or both. As a result, the Subaru operator lost control of her vehicle, which spun into the grass shoulder of the road, and struck a guardrail.

Subsequently, at least two other vehicles, a 2019 Ford Escape SUV and a 2020 Chevrolet Colorado pickup were unable to avoid the crash scene and struck either the Yamaha, the motorcycle operator, or both. Both of those vehicles remained on scene.

Mena was determined to be deceased on scene. Other motorists suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Subsequent investigation determined that the license plate on the motorcycle belonged to a different motorcycle.

Those who knew Mena described him as someone with a contagious laugh that would light up a room and make those around him feel loved. A GoFundMe fundraiser was created for funeral expenses and has raised $3,700 as of this writing.

Troopers have not yet identified the initial two vehicles that nearly avoided colliding, causing one of them to swerve into the Yamaha. The investigation into the crash is ongoing and is being conducted by the State Police-Newbury Barracks, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.