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'Best Dad Ever' Turns Himself In For Killing Man With His Car In Chicopee: DA

A 35-year-old Springfield man seemingly tried to impress a superior court judge by wearing his "Best Dad Ever" shirt during his arraignment on charges he drove over a Chicopee man last month and left him to die on the side of the road. 

Eric St. Andre

Eric St. Andre

Photo Credit: Hampden District Attorney

Eric St. Andre is accused of crashing into 60-year-old Gary Turcotte just before 5 p.m. on Nov. 30 as he made his way through a crosswalk in the 900 block of Chicopee Street, the Hampden District Attorney Office's said. Paramedics rushed Turcotte to Baystate Medical Center, but doctors couldn't save his life. 

After weeks of investigation, officers got a warrant for St. Andre's arrest earlier this week, and he turned himself in on Wednesday, Dec. 21, after he learned police were looking for him.  

St. Andre is charged with leaving the scene of a crash after causing death, motor vehicle homicide while operating negligently, and a crosswalk violation, according to the prosecutor. 

Despite the advertisement for his parenting abilities, St. Andre didn't sway the judge, who ordered him held on $10,000 bail. 

“I saw the pictures of the car … the windshield, I mean, you know you hit something someone hit something and someone drove away," the judge said, per Western Mass News. "…To say that ‘Geez, why did they get a warrant?’ Well, it’s been two weeks and the man hasn’t come in … Bail is set in the amount of $10,000 cash."

Turcotte's family held a funeral for him earlier this month. According to his obituary, Turcotte was a lifelong Chicopee resident who was generous with his friends and an avid candlepin bowler. 

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