A family is mourning the death of a 26-year-old mom who was tragically struck by a car when an alleged road rage incident turned deadly.
The suspect claims he felt threatened and thought people were “trying to kill” him. But surveillance footage shows Ryan Sweatt as the threat who intentionally struck the victim with his car, the impact so severe it tossed Destini Decoff into the air, ripping the clothes from her body.
“Today my biggest fear as a mother became my reality,” her mother writes in an emotional Facebook post, adding she hopes the accused “burns directly in hell.” Keep reading to learn more about this tragic incident.
On April 4, Destini Decoff – the mom to Zaedan, seven – was traveling in a vehicle with four men on a highway in Hopkinton, about an hour west of Boston, Massachusetts.
Ryan Sweatt, who was operating the other vehicle, told police he had left work and was driving home to Milford when the car – carrying Decoff and her friends – pulled in front of him, its driver slamming on the brakes.
According to a statement released by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, “[Sweatt] became engaged in an apparent road rage incident with another vehicle. At some point, some of the occupants of the other vehicle, including the victim, exited the car. Sweatt subsequently made a U-turn at a high rate of speed and struck the victim in the roadway.”
Her jacket was ’20 feet’ away
Brett Martin, a witness who saw the horrific incident as it played out, told police Sweatt targetted the 26-year-old woman.
“He turned around multiple times and he coulda just kept going. He could have kept going. He chose to turn around, chose to come back. He knew what he was doing when he went towards that girl.”
Describing the force of the strike, Martin continued, “I didn’t see her go up in the air. But I saw her come down, hit the pavement. It wasn’t good from there…I saw her mid-air kind of coming down towards the street, her jacket must’ve been 20 feet away from her. However she got hit, those clothes flew off.”
Sweatt, who tried to flee, was stopped by police.
“They’re trying to kill me,” Sweatt, 36, told police while pointing toward a group of people standing on the road around Decoff, who was lying in a pool of blood.
Meanwhile, the young mother was rushed to hospital suffering from a brain bleed, collapsed lungs, and fractures to her shoulder, tibia and ribs. She also had an emergency operation to remove her spleen and part of her skull to relieve pressure from the brain bleed.
‘A cry for help’
Sweatt’s Facebook page is filled with messages suggesting depression and self harm. His last post, March 2023, read, “Honestly, what is so wrong about me? Clearly something is wrong but I can’t see it. I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken.”
The year before, he re-shared a post he originally wrote in August 2014, “Suicide, a crime of loneliness.”
Following the death of Decoff, netizens are flocking to his Facebook page, leaving messages to the man accused of killing an innocent woman.
“A cry for help. Mental Health should not be ignored especially by the person experiencing it,” one Facebook user wrote on his page, after the death of Decoff.
Another shared, “You had a choice to just drive away.”
‘Hit my daughter head-on’
Unfortunately, Sweatt did not drive away.
Decoff’s mother, Tracy, shared on Facebook what she saw on the surveillance video.
“She was in the car with friends when the car behind them was riding their bumper. Car pulled over they got out of the vehicle & that car tried to run them over,” Tracy wrote from her daughter’s bedside in the hospital. “They made it the first time then the car turned around again & hit my daughter head-on, throwing her in the air. That car then took off with my baby laying there & the police got him.”
Tracy added, “I have been talking to her because I feel in my heart she can hear me. I’ve only tried holding her hand because she is hurt everywhere…”
But the young woman never regained consciousness and she was removed from life support on April 6.
Hospital staff printed Decoff’s last heartbeats along with her handprints and gave them to the grieving mom, who wrote, “I will treasure these forever.”
Sweatt was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, operating to endanger and a marked lanes violation.
He denied the charges when he appeared in court on April 5 and was remanded in custody pending a dangerousness hearing on Wednesday.
“Today my biggest fear as a mother became my reality. My first born child & best friend is no longer with me…go spread those beautiful wings & fly without pain & suffering,” Tracy, who next vows to get justice, shared. “With every ounce of my being I hope that mf burns directly in hell! I promise you with every ounce of my being I will get justice for you regardless of what it takes!”
Friends of the family organized a GoFundMe, “asking for help with the cost of her final arrangements.” The campaign, as of Tuesday, has raised almost $15,000 of its $20,000 goal.
We hope Destini Decoff’s family finds some peace in all their suffering. Please let us know what you think and then share this story so we can spread some love!
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