HOLBROOK, Mass. — Friends and family are mourning the loss of a 20-year-old Stoughton woman killed in a horrific crash in Holbrook over the weekend.
Nicole Ricci was a passenger in a car that veered off Route 139 and crashed into a home on Kingsley Street around 5 a.m. Sunday.
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"She was a good, good girl," said Nicole's mother, Sharon McInnis.
Dozens of people came out for a candlelight vigil along Lake Holbrook on Monday night. They lit candles and released balloons to remember Nicole.
"I think she would be like, 'Oh my God, all these people are here,'" McInnis said.
Adely DePina, of Holbrook, said Nicole was a loyal friend.
"She was there for her friends and she always made sure that we were good, and she was one of a kind," DePina said.
"You couldn't be sad or mad around her," said Alexandra Ocampo of Holbrook.
Monday night, her family and friends chose to focus on Nicole's life, and not her death.
"She was a sassy little thing. She loved her brothers. She loved her family. She was just fun and funny," her mother said.
Investigators suggest the car was driving westbound when the driver crossed over to the eastbound lane, struck a utility pole, traveled through a residential yard and then through a fence, eventually smashing into the back of a house on Kingsley Street.
Emergency crews had to extricate Ricci from the car using the Jaws of Life. She was rushed to Brockton Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Preliminary investigation shows Ricci was a passenger in the car with the other two men, identified as a 19-year-old and 21-year-old. Both men were injured and transported to area hospitals. Police have not identified the identity of the driver.
The 2005 Toyota Camry involved in the crash was registered under Ricci's name.
A neighbor who rushed to the scene to help told Boston 25 News he had just gotten home from work and was trying to fall asleep when he heard the crash.
"I seen something I wasn't expecting to see, coming home after work," said Pat Touhey. "I didn't care what the situation was, just help."
Touhey said he didn't even think and rushed across the busy Route 139 to help when he saw a car on its side inside a neighbor's home.
When he got to the scene, Touhey says one of the men injured was outside the car, moaning.
"I see the guy, he has blood running all over his face," said Touhey.
Touhey then pulled the second man out the rear window of the car but said he could not help Ricci.
"I told him, 'Grab my arm,' [and] I grabbed him and pulled him out, pulled him away from the car," Touhey said. "And I pulled his buddy away from the car then I was trying to figure out about the third party, you realize certain things when you see it."
The house was heavily damaged, and the homeowner tells Boston 25 News it could be a total loss.
When asked if he considered himself a hero, Touhey said, "I really don't look at it like that, I just look at myself, just helping somebody out."
Nicole's mother, meanwhile, said the show of support from dozens of people has given her comfort as she mourns the loss of her daughter.
"She would be very, very happy and I’m sure she is looking down and she’s very happy because I’m happy," McInnis said.
MORE: One dead after car veers off road, crashes into Holbrook home
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