Investigation into death of New Bedford student Jacob Pothier still open and active

The investigation into the death of Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School student Jacob Pothier continues, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office.

Greg Miliote, Director of Communications for the DA’s office confirmed the case was still open and further conversation with another member of the DA’s office said the case is very much “active.”

18-year-old Pothier was killed in a car accident in Dartmouth back in January. The second occupant of the vehicle, Kathleen Martins, was injured in the crash. Unconfirmed reports indicate Pothier was the driver of the vehicle belonging to Martins and the connection was unclear.

But working off a tip, Fall River Reporter put in a records request to Greater New Bedford Voc Tech and confirmed that Martins was a former employee of the school during the time that Pothier attended.

In an email to correspondent Jessica Machado, Superintendent Michael Watson shared the following:

For the next several months, Machado fought with the school district for fair access to Martins personnel file, including all correspondence with Watson and others regarding Martins. The school district, through attorneys, attached thousands of dollars of fees to the requests to prevent access. To date, the district has racked up over $5000 in attorney fees to fight access, which is still in the appeal process.

Machado will be speaking about this story in a Spaces event on “X” formerly known as Twitter, next week. Follow us there for date, time and other updates.