A white cross, filled with messages and covered in flowers, has been set up in Gray to remember a mother of four who died after police say she was struck by a drunken driver.
Samantha Rinaldi, 40, was found unresponsive on Yarmouth Road, also known as Route 115, about 7:30 p.m. Saturday after 58-year-old Jay Westra of North Yarmouth allegedly struck her while she was walking, according to Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce.
Rinaldi was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she later died.
[Maine man accused of drunken driving in crash that killed pedestrian]
Westra, whose 11-year-old daughter was in the car with him, was charged with operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Westra was the husband of Kristin Westra, a teacher who went missing last fall before her body was found in a wooded area off Gray Road in North Yarmouth.
Joyce said the crash remains under investigation, the result of which will be presented to the district attorney for further charges.
“I mean this is a tragic, tragic event,” Joyce said. “A young lady that is walking and killed too early. And the fact that Mr. Westra had his 11-year-old daughter who has suffered a great deal of trauma in the last year. You know my heart goes out to her.”