FALL RIVER — The man facing charges for the November crash that killed a Middleboro woman was allegedly traveling more than 100 miles per hour seconds before he hit her vehicle, according to information provided by Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn.

Hector Bannister-Sanchez, 34, of Norton and Medford, was arraigned in Fall River Superior Court Tuesday, Jan. 10 on new indictments charging him with second degree murder and reckless motor vehicle homicide in connection with the Nov. 7, 2022 crash in Taunton that claimed the life of 54-year-old Lori Medeiros, the district attorney said.

He was ordered held without bail as a danger to the community.

Bannister-Sanchez was the target of a four-month long drug investigation leading up to the events of Nov. 7, Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn O’Leary told the court during his arraignment. 

Investigators had sought and obtained a court-authorized global positioning system, known as a GPS, for his Toyota Highlander. Investigators intended to stop the defendant Nov. 7 as part of the culmination of their investigation.  

After conducting surveillance of him traveling to his alleged stash house in Norton, they believed he was driving to complete a drug deal with a frequent customer in Middleboro, O’Leary said.

As investigators parked behind him and approached Bannister-Sanchez’ vehicle, they announced their presence as police and demanded that he show his hands. Rather than stop, the defendant fled, O’Leary said.

Although he was not being chased by police, Bannister-Sanchez drove through a front yard, crashed into the property’s front landing, and forced a state trooper to get out of the way in order to avoid being hit, O’Leary told the court. 

He then drove at sustained and extremely high speeds as he fled through Middleboro, Lakeville, and ultimately into Taunton, she said.

The court-authorized GPS affixed to his vehicle showed him traveling at speeds as high as 101 miles per hour towards the beginning of his flight and 84.3 miles per hour as he approached the turn onto Kingman Street in Taunton, where the crash occurred, O’Leary said.

 Witnesses observed the defendant driving at dangerous and excessive speeds, crossing in and out of oncoming traffic as he did so, and forcing other vehicles on the road out of the way in order to avoid getting hit, O’Leary said.

He traveled at these high speeds on routes that were at times densely populated with other vehicles traveling them, and that were lined with residences, businesses, and at least one school, the district attorney said.

His vehicle eventually crashed into a red Ford Fusion operated by Medeiros. Data obtained revealed that approximately five seconds prior to impact, the defendant was driving 101 miles per hour on a street where the unposted speed limit is 35 miles per hour.

 Medeiros was trapped inside the Ford Fusion and was ultimately taken to Morton Hospital in Taunton, where she was pronounced deceased. 

After the defendant collided into Medeiros’ vehicle, the witness who had been driving behind her saw the operator and sole occupant of the Highlander grab a black backpack from inside the Highlander and take off running away from the direction of the crash site, the district attorney said. He was apprehended a short time later on South Precinct Street.

The backpack the defendant grabbed from the Highlander contained $16,350 in cash and the defendant’s wallet and cell phones were found in the Highlander, O’Leary said.

Bannister-Sanchez is due back in court for a pretrial conference on Feb. 22.

Medeiros was praised at a candlelight vigil in November held in Middleboro as “the rock of her family’’ who was “loved by many.’’ She is survived by her husband, son and daughter. She worked as a loan originator at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation.