Failed Justice: The Avoidable Tragedies of Ricky Olson and Edward Davis
On the evening of Thursday, January 17, 1980, tragedy struck along Southwick Road in Westfield, Massachusetts. At 7:53 p.m., thirty-four-year-old Louiseann (Danahey) Olson was driving southbound with her three children—Christine, age eleven; Richard Jr. (“Ricky”), age nine; and David, age seven. The family was on their way home when Louise prepared to turn right onto Forest Glen Drive.
At that moment, their car was struck with tremendous force. The other driver, twenty-four-year-old Edward A. Davis of Southwick, Massachusetts, had been speeding down the breakdown lane, overtaking several cars on the right. His reckless maneuver placed him directly in the path of the Olson family’s turning vehicle.
The impact was catastrophic. The Olson car was hurled some two hundred feet, scattering debris along the roadside. Both cars were destroyed. The violence of the crash decapitated young Ricky, and injured his mother, who was rushed to Noble Hospital with chest and facial injuries. Christine and David survived without serious physical harm but were left traumatized by the horrific scene.
Medical Examiner Richard K. Douglas pronounced Ricky dead at the scene.
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| Ricky (far left) and his sister (far right) circa 1977 |
Arrest and Charges
Rather than remain at the scene, Davis fled on foot. Police apprehended him about an hour later, not far down the road. He was taken to Noble Hospital for head injuries.
Police charged Davis with vehicular homicide, operating under the influence of alcohol, operating to endanger, and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. The following day, January 18, he appeared in Westfield District Court and pleaded not guilty. He was released on his own recognizance pending a hearing scheduled for February 2.
Ricky was laid to rest on January 21, following services at the Robert E. Cusack Funeral Home and St. Mary’s Church.
Court Battles
As the Olson family mourned, Davis’s legal troubles mounted. On March 17, 1980, he appeared in court again, this time on charges of disturbance and wanton destruction of property after reportedly throwing a large chunk of ice through a window of somebody's home on March 15. (The details of this case are murky, but after a couple continuances, Davis was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.)
On April 1, Davis was back in court to face the charges from the fatal accident. Family members from both sides attended the hearing. At the request of the defense, Judge Cooley granted a one-week continuance, but he requested that Ricky’s father be present at the next session “in the event there is a disposition.”
Plea Agreement
Plea Agreement
The prosecution pressed for the harshest penalty available in the Commonwealth—two and a half years behind bars for vehicular homicide, with concurrent sentences on the other charges. But under a plea agreement, the charge of driving to endanger was dropped. On April 8, Davis admitted guilt to the remaining counts. Even then, the court delayed justice once more, ordering a mandatory pre-sentencing evaluation and pushing sentencing back to April 29.
The proceedings weighed heavily on Ricky’s family, particularly his mother. Stricken with grief and survivor’s guilt, she could not bear to sit through the trial and waited outside the courtroom. In a highly unusual move, Judge Cooley turned to Ricky’s father, Richard Sr., and asked if he wished to make a statement. He answered:
“Nothing could change anything that has happened. I could go on for three weeks on the way we think and feel.”
Davis’s lawyer had argued for rehabilitation instead of prison, citing his past brain injury from a 1975 accident, which left him with memory loss, speech impairment, and perceptual difficulties. Richard Sr. was sympathetic, but not swayed:
“I’m not familiar with his problems. But, he did have a Massachusetts driver’s license, and I feel he had a responsibility just like the rest of us.”
The defense further pointed out that Davis’s driver’s license had been revoked and assured the court that he would never legally operate a vehicle again, saying in part, “His danger to society in that regard has been rectified.”
Judge Cooley sentenced Davis to serve three months of an eighteen-month term, with the balance suspended, and placed him on probation for two years.
Civil Action
On October 16, 1980, Ricky’s parents filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against The Nook, a Westfield bar they alleged had negligently served Davis alcohol on the day of the fatal crash. The suit sought damages for pain and suffering, loss of Ricky’s future income, and punitive damages for gross negligence. (The outcome of the lawsuit is unclear.)
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| The Nook, Westfield, Massachusetts |
More Trouble for Davis
Davis continued to break the law. On March 17, 1981, he was arrested in West Springfield, Massachusetts, for driving under the influence—despite his revoked license. He was found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence with probation through May 1983. As a result, Judge Cooley ordered him to serve the remaining fifteen months of his suspended sentence from the Olson case.
But Davis’s reckless path did not end there.
A Violent End
At 1:50 a.m. on September 9, 1982, Davis was driving the wrong way down Bicentennial Highway in Springfield, Massachusetts, at a high rate of speed. He struck a traffic island, blew out a tire, and lost control. His vehicle went airborne, crossed Cooley Street, and slammed into a stand of pine trees. One large tree was split by the force of impact; the front end of the car separated entirely and landed fifteen feet away.
Davis was ejected into nearby woods. Firefighters used chainsaws to clear the wreckage and reach his body. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Wesson Memorial Hospital.
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| Edward's Fatal Wreck - September 9, 1982 |
A Troubled Past
Police throughout Western Massachusetts and local judges were already familiar with Edward Davis. In 1974, he and another man had been arrested for stealing car batteries from brand new cars on the lot at Pease Chrysler Plymouth in Westfield. In 1979, police arrested Davis again after he and another Southwick man kicked in a plate-glass window at the Pub Lounge in Springfield.
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Edited Out/Author’s Additional Research Notes
Ricky was in the fourth grade. He played in the Westfield Youth Hockey League and in the Park and Recreation Basketball League and the Westfield Little League.
Edward may have damaged more than one house with chunks of ice.
Besides his lawyers' comments, could not immediately locate details of Edward's 1975 pickup truck injury.
Nearby patrolmen saw Edward run a few red lights before the crash that took his life.
Louiseann’s father died in 1959. He was only 53.