A revered musician is dead after a woman allegedly ran him over in Hopkinton, Rhode Island.
Roderick MacLeod, who performed with Grammy-nominated act Roomful of Blues, died Dec. 6, police say. MacLeod was walking his dogs around 7 a.m. when a woman, identified as Shannon N. Godbout, allegedly veered off the roadway, struck him and hit two telephone poles.
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MacLeod, age 70, was transported to a nearby hospital but died there.
Police have arrested MacLeod in relation to the crash, charging her with driving so as to endanger, resulting in death. She also faces a possession of narcotics charge becuase officers allegedly discovered “numerous illegal narcotics and packaging materials commonly associated with drug distribution” in her car. She is being held without bail, per NBC affiliate WJAR.
The incident has sparked significant outrage from the public after police revealed authorities had arrested Godbout, age 41, more than 100 times since 2002.
Members of the public have demanded to know why Godbout wasn’t behind bars due to her history. However, legal experts pointed out to The Boston Globe that many of the offenses were small-time crimes, such as shoplifting and missing court dates, that only required small sentences, suspended sentences with probation and/or substance abuse/mental health counseling.
As legal expert Andrew Horwitz told the Globe: “The knee-jerk reaction that this all could have been prevented if only we locked her up – for that to make any sense, you would have to agree to live in a world, in a society in which we routinely lock people up for substance abuse problems, for mental health problems, and for minor criminal offenses.”