POLICE NEWS

Police say Cranston woman was at wheel of car that dragged man to his death

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 3/4/21

By JOHN HOWELL The fatality of a West Warwick man who was dragged to his death on Warwick's Airport Road in the early morning hours of Dec. 22 appears to have been the victim of a "drug deal that went bad." Warwick detectives have been tight-lipped about

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POLICE NEWS

Police say Cranston woman was at wheel of car that dragged man to his death

Posted

The fatality of a West Warwick man who was dragged to his death on Warwick’s Airport Road in the early morning hours of Dec. 22 appears to have been the victim of a “drug deal that went bad.”

Warwick detectives have been tight-lipped about the incident, fearing that information about the death of Donald Boss, 51, would compromise their investigation and prompt the flight of their key suspect, a Cranston woman.

In a release issued Monday, police reported Skyla Gilroy, 20, of Alhambra Circle, Cranston, was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on Feb. 12 in Surprise, Arizona, on an active warrant for her arrest. She was turned over to Warwick Police on Feb. 26.

Capt. Ryan Sornberger of the Warwick Police Detective Division said Monday that police have extensive video of the incident and early in their investigation were looking for Gilroy. He said that the video shows two cars in the Dave’s Fresh Marketplace parking lot at about 4 a.m. Sornberger said there were three occupants in each of the vehicles. According to “digital evidence” – including phone calls between Boss and a passenger in the car that was identified as a blue 2008 Nissan Rogue – Sornberger said the individuals knew each other and had arranged to meet.

The video shows Boss outside the car allegedly driven by Gilroy. The passenger’s window is open and Boss is reaching inside when the car starts driving onto Airport Road.

Sornberger said it is apparent that Boss was hanging on to something inside the car. Boss is dragged by the car into the road and he falls to the pavement near the Speedway gas station. The video then shows a box truck swerving to narrowly miss Boss. Immediately following is a motorist, later identified as Theresa Duarte, who is on her way to work at My Favorite Muffin. She uses her car to block the road. She rolls Boss, who is bleeding from his face, over and starts administering CPR, according to Sornberger. Duarte tells the occupants of Boss’s car, who are now at the scene, to call police.

Boss was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Using information gleaned from occupants in Boss’s car, Sornberger said detectives visited addresses Gilroy frequented and on Dec. 24 found a blue Nissan Rogue “tucked in behind” other vehicles at a Providence address. The car was matched with that at the scene as it was missing a front hubcap. The car was towed to Warwick Police headquarters.

Could this have been a drug deal?

Sornberger said no money or drugs was found in their search of the car, but the “digital evidence” points to an exchange between the parties.

At this time the names of the other occupants of the two vehicles are not being released.

Gilroy was charged with duty to stop for an accident resulting in death. She was arraigned in District Court in Warwick on Monday and released on $75,000 bail with surety, police said. She is scheduled to appear in court on May. 24.

police, crime, Gilroy

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