Chloe Ricard, a 13-year-old from Amesbury, MA, was pronounced dead shortly after being dropped off at the emergency room in Lawrence General Hospital on Monday, May 20. The man who drove her there, identified as Carlos Rivera, 47, was arrested five days later. On Tuesday, Rivera was arraigned and denied bail.
Rivera was charged with giving Ricard cocaine and sexually assaulting her twice, according to a statement from the Essex District Attorney’s Office. The Massachusetts man has also been accused of drugging and assaulting an unnamed 16-year-old girl before Ricard died. Rivera pleaded not guilty to the numerous charges.
Ricard’s mother, Deborah Goldsmith-Dolan, and her stepfather, Brian Dolan, said she was dropped off at a friend’s house in Amesbury Sunday afternoon and did not come home that night, according to The Boston Globe. They said their daughter often went to spend time with friends when she felt sad or angry. Worried that she hadn’t heard from Chloe by Monday morning, Goldsmith-Dolan reached out to her daughter’s friends and was told that Ricard was safe at another friend’s home. She later learned her daughter had been dropped off at the ER.
The teen’s exact cause of death has yet to be determined, according to the district attorney’s office statement.
Authorities say that Rivera was accompanied by another girl under the age of 16 when he dropped off Ricard at the hospital. They believe that the two girls were at his home in Lawrence, MA, on the night of Sunday, May 19, and the next day, before Rivera left Ricard, alone, at the hospital. She reportedly “had no pulse” when she was brought to the ER. Lawrence is located 20 miles away from Amesbury.
A neighbor of Rivera’s, Carlos Ospina, told NBC Boston he often saw Rivera hanging out with young-looking women.
The Boston Globe uncovered a troubling post on Ricard’s Instagram account, which read, “I dont wanna live long at all. Yall dumb tryna clown me and bring me down for being what I am. … I live my life everyday like its the last and thats me. Ill never change and one day i will not wake up and thats my goal. Stop worrying about my health.” The teenager’s biological father passed away about five years ago, and she coped with the loss by drawing, relatives said.
“Chloe loved drawing, dancing, acro, yoga, and music,” according to the 13-year-old’s obituary. “She was extremely creative and was an avid dancer.” A private funeral was held for Ricard on Tuesday. Her family started a GoFundMe to help cover funeral expenses.
Investigators are continuing to gather information surrounding Ricard’s death. Rivera is due back in court on June 4.
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