Franklin man pleads not guilty, held on bail, after crash that killed 5-year-old girl, seriously injured family members

A Massachusetts man pled not guilty after a child died, and two other family members were hospitalized with serious injuries due to a two-vehicle crash on Grove Street in Franklin.

According to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and Police Chief Thomas Lynch, the girl was a passenger in a car involved in a collision with a pickup truck at approximately 6:22 p.m. Saturday in the area of 76 Grove Street.

She was taken to a hospital where she was later pronounced deceased.

Her brother and  mother,  both passengers in the car, remain in the hospital.

The father,  who was driving the car, was released from the hospital after treatment.

The driver of the pickup truck, James N. Blanchard, 21, of Franklin, was arrested.

He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of motor vehicle homicide while driving negligently and under the influence of alcohol, three counts of operating under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol, and a marked lanes violation.

According to NBC 10 Boston, the family was travelling to Blackstone for the son’s birthday. The father told investigators that he saw the pickup in his lane and tried to swerve to avoid it but could not. Officers smelled alcohol on Blanchard, noticed he was slurring his words, and found two handles of vodka and beer inside the car.

According to court records, Blanchard pled not guilty and was held on $250,000 cash bail. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for the end of June.