Report: Alcohol Investigated in Florida Crash that Killed Pregnant Medford Woman

Police in Florida are investigating whether alcohol or drugs played a role in a car crash that killed a pregnant woman from Medford, according to a CBS news report from Miami.

Alanna DeMella died March 18 when a car driven by Rosa Rivera went off the road and crashed into her vacation cabana in Ft. Lauderdale. DeMella, a Medford resident, was 7 months pregnant.

Rivera was served with a warrant last month to provide police a blood sample to test whether alcohol or drugs factored in the crash, the CBS Miami report said.

Rivera, 34, told police she had gotten into an argument with her husband at a nearby restaurant and left, but she does not remember the crash. She also told police she had ordered some food and a martini but left before finishing the drink, the report said.

DeMella and her husband Michael were on vacation at the Riverside Hotel after winning the trip in a contest through Genisis Church in Woburn, where she was a parishoner.

The church

DeMella was a was a teacher at the Pierce School in Arlington and graduated from Braintree High School and Framingham State College, according to her obituary.