Driver in Double Fatal Accident in South Windsor Charged With Manslaughter

By Ted Glanzer

The 19-year-old driver of the sport utility vehicle involved in a double fatal accident on the South Windsor/East Windsor border on Memorial Day  weekend involving a Vernon teen has been charged with manslaughter, according to police.

Sara Ballard, of 405 Sandstone Drive, South Windsor, was charged on Wednesday with two counts of manslaughter in the second degree with a motor vehicle, two counts of assault in the second degree, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and reckless driving. 

Ballard was released on $50,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear at Manchester Superior Court on July 11.

According to police, Ballard was driving a 2003 Ford Expedition in excess of 80 miles per hour on Abbe Road when she lost control of her vehicle and left the road, striking a tree.

“That’s a 30-mile an hour residential street,” police spokesman Sgt. Scott Custer said. “They were trying to catch air.”

Custer said that the tests indicated that the vehicle was traveling between 84 and 90 miles an hour when Ballard lost control of the vehicle.

In addition, Ballard had been smoking marijuana earlier in the evening according to medical records, Custer said.

Two teens - Matthew Masse, 18, of Vernon, and Brooke Wormstedt, 15, of East Windsor - died in the crash that took place on May 25. Two other teens were injured.

Last week, a memorial to Masse was included in the Rockville HIgh School graduation program.

Ballard surrendered to South Windsor police with her attorney yesterday afternoon, according to Custer.