WALTHAM, MA — While mourning continues after a fatal crash at a Waltham job site that killed a police officer and National Grid employee, actions of support have also begun.
On Thursday, National Grid identified Roderick Jackson as the employee who was killed during the crash on Totten Pond Road. The crash also killed Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey, and led to more than a dozen charges against Peter Simon, a New Hampshire man, including manslaughter.
At a Thursday arraignment, a not-guilty plea was entered but he will be held until another court date scheduled for next week.
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In Jackson’s community, an outpouring of support is ongoing for the family of the man they knew as “Kito.”
An online fundraiser has begun for Jackson’s family, raising over $6,700 as of Friday at 11 a.m. and garnering 109 donations in less than a day.
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Across Cambridge, the city were Jackson lived, many have taken to social media to share messages of support for the family, and sadness for his death, including the popular Cambridge-raised rapper Millyz.
National Grid issued a statement on Thursday asking for space for the family, which was echoed on the online fundraiser page.
“With great sadness we share that our team member, Roderick Jackson, working in our Massachusetts gas operations, died from injuries sustained after being struck by a vehicle driven by a member of the public Wednesday evening on Totten Pond Road in Waltham,” officials said.
“Our immediate priority is supporting our team members and their families and loved ones during this difficult time, including by providing counseling and other services,” they added.
According to multiple reports, Jackson’s brother and mother spoke outside of Simon’s arraignment on Thursday, stating that Jackson was a great father, but also much more to the family.
“I’ll tell you right now he was a legend. He was the heart of this family, of this entire family. That’s who he was,” Jackson’s brother Manuel Asprilla-Hassan said, according to CBS Boston.”Anybody who knows him, the most selfless man ever. He was more than just my brother, he was my father. That’s the heart of this family, that’s what was taken from us.”
“He took our treasure chest,” said Jackson’s mother, Norma Asprilla. “Unforgivable.”
Boston Bruins Head Coach Jim Montgomery also issued his condolences at a press conference on Thursday.
To view the fundraiser, click here.
Jackson grew up in Cambridge and attended Cambridge Ringe & Latin before attending Framingham State University, where he played college basketball and graduated with a business administration degree.
He was hired at National Grid in 2021.
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