Activist Clark Grant was facing federal fraud charges with his wife at the time of his death.
An Abington woman is charged with a misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide after she allegedly crashed into a Roxbury activist, Clark Grant, while he was on a motorcycle over a year ago in Easton.
Jennifer Fortes, 42, was charged Monday with motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, according to Taunton District Court records. Fortes is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 21.
Kevin Reddington, Fortes’s lawyer, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
At the time of his death, Grant was facing federal fraud charges with his wife, antiviolence activist Monica Cannon-Grant.
Grant and his wife formerly managed the now-defunct Violence In Boston nonprofit. Prosecutors allege the couple defrauded donors of the organization, committed unemployment fraud, and lied to a mortgage lender.
Last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office updated the indictment with an additional nine charges, alleging the two used COVID-19 pandemic assistance funds for personal expenses and concealed their income to obtain thousands of dollars in city-managed rental assistance unlawfully.
“We are relieved to see that charges have been brought against the individual responsible for his death,” wrote Cannon-Grant in a statement she released on X Tuesday evening. “However, nothing can alleviate the profound loss that our family has experienced and the heartbreak our boys face in losing their father so tragically and prematurely.”
Cannon-Grant wrote that her family continues to navigate through “immense grief” and will find “solace in the hope that justice will prevail.”
In a previous statement after the crash, Cannon-Grant said she last heard from Grant when he was heading home on his motorcycle. They told each other, “I love you,” their last contact, she said.
Cannon-Grant also asks for help with household bills and legal fees through a GoFundMe page.
The death absolved Grant of all pending allegations in Federal Court, which the U.S .Government dismissed in May of last year, according to court records.
At around 5:50 p.m. on March 29, 2023, the Easton Police Department responded to a motor vehicle collision involving a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Honda motorocyle with injuries in the area of 479 Turnpike St., according to a police report.
Fortes was operating the Jeep Grand Cherokee, turning left from the exit of a shopping mall at 479 Turnpike St. to head northbound on Turnpike Street, while Grant was traveling south on Turnpike Street, the report said.
When Fortes turned left, crossing the southbound lane, she collided with the motorcycle, causing Grant to fall off and land on the roadway.
Grant was found by police “suffering from traumatic injuries,” according to a news release from the police department.
Grant received medical treatment from firefighters before he was brought to the Brockton Hospital, where he died.
Fortes and her 9-year-old passenger at the time were not injured.
The police report says Grant was traveling between 46 and 48 mph and did not have enough time and distance to stop and avoid the collision.
Police report that the visibility at the collision scene was “exceptional,” and Grant should have been visible since he was wearing an American National Standards Institute-certified jacket.
Police say that Fortes’s failure to yield to the motorcycle and her decision to take a left turn at the time was “unreasonable,” and that weather and roadway conditions were not factors in the collision.
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