Faces Sentencing Tomorrow

BOSTON, Oct. 10, 2018—The driver who struck a pedestrian in Chinatown and dragged her from Chinatown to Route 93 pleaded guilty yesterday and faces sentencing tomorrow, Suffolk County District Attorney John P. Pappas said.

XIAO YING ZHOU, 47, of Sandwich pleaded guilty to the indicted charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of a collision causing personal injury, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle in connection with the 2016 collision that left the victim, now 51, with life-altering injuries.

Prosecutors will recommend a lengthy state prison sentence at a hearing tomorrow afternoon, Pappas said.

Had the case proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Robert Connelly of the DA’s Major Felony Bureau would have introduced evidence and testimony proving that Zhou was behind the wheel of a Toyota RAV4 in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2016, when she struck the victim and her husband as they crossed Kneeland Street in Chinatown. Connelly would have shown that Zhou did not stop and that the female victim was trapped beneath the vehicle as Zhou travelled south and made her way southbound on Route 93.

The woman suffered grievous injuries but survived. She requires a walker for mobility, needs help with basic daily activities such as dressing and bathing, and lost the ability to grip objects with her right hand. She underwent extensive skin grafts because of injuries to her face, torso, and legs. Both she and her husband are expected to appear at tomorrow’s sentencing hearing.

Erin O’Connor is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Zhou is represented by attorney Michelle Troiano. Judge Peter Krupp will impose sentencing in courtroom 815 of Suffolk Superior Court at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.