Unlicensed Driver Charged In Crash That Killed Motorcyclist: Meriden PD

MERIDEN, CT — An unlicensed driver has been arrested in connection with a crash that killed a motorcycle operator last month in Meriden, according to police.

Meriden police received several 911 calls around 5:50 a.m. on Oct. 2 reporting a crash involving a motor vehicle and a motorcycle at the intersection of Colony Street at Camp Street.

Emergency crews found the motorcycle operator at the scene with serious head injuries, according to police.

The motorcyclist, who was identified as 32-year-old Maxwell Lafayette of Meriden, was traveling north on Colony Street. He was taken to MidState Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.

Lafayette died a month before his second daughter was due to be born, according to family. He was survived by his wife and his 1-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

Police obtained video surveillance footage of the crash from a local business.

Police said the video showed Lafayette traveling north on Colony Street, while Mercedes Conya-Malan was traveling West on Camp Street.

“The traffic light at Camp St. and Colony St. was blinking red, Conya-Malan failed to make a complete stop for the blinking red light and pulled out onto Camp St. in front of Lafayette’s motorcycle,” police wrote in a news release. “During this investigation police learned that Conya-Malan did not have a license and the vehicle she was driving was not registered or insured.”

Conya-Malan, 38, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant and charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, improper use of registration plates, failure to maintain insurance, operating without a License, and failure to obey a traffic control signal. She was released after posting a $5,000 bond with a court date of Nov. 22.