Plymouth Hockey Team Honors 13-Year-Old Killed In Crash

PLYMOUTH, MA —The Plymouth South/Plymouth North girls hockey players will put green tape on their sticks this season as the town honors the memory of 13-year-old Claire Zisserson, who was killed in a car crash on Dec. 29. The heartfelt gesture is one of many in the town that is mourning the death of the Rising Tide Charter student killed by a man charged with drunk driving.

A candelight vigil at Brewster Gardens drew hundreds of friends, neighbors and classmates in Zisserson's memory Sunday night on what would have been her 14th birthday. On Monday, students and faculty from the Rising Tide Charter School returned from holiday break and were greeted with counselors and resource officers the school said will be available to any student, parent or staff member in need for the rest of the school year.

Zisserson's classmate, 13-year-old Kendall Zemotel, and Zisserson's mother, sustained serious injuries in the crash.

The Plymouth N/S girls hockey team would like to send our deepest condolences to the Zissersons & best wishes for a speedy recovery to the Zemotels. Your family is our family. We're honoring Claire with her initials and green tape as our sign of support #2schools1town1heart pic.twitter.com/3LmxXFbdcG
— PlymouthGirlsHockey (@PlyGirlsHockey) January 5, 2020

The crash occurred around 7 a.m. when, prosecutors say, Gregory Goodsell, 31, of Marshfield drove his Hi-Way Safety Systems pickup truck through a red light on Route 139 and struck the victims' car while going more than 70 mph. According to prosecutors, Goodsell, who has a troublesome driving record, told them he "shouldn't have been driving" and did cocaine before the crash.

Goodsell said he was coming back from his company's Christmas party, prosecutors said. He appeared in Plymouth District Court on Dec. 30 and pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, two counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury, one count of having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, one count of negligent operation of a vehicle, a marked lane violation, speeding, failure to stop at a signal and improper passing.

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