By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — A Pawtucket man charged with the fatal hit-and-run accident in Seekonk that claimed the life of a Seekonk woman in October pleaded not guilty on Monday in New Bedford Superior Court.

Laudalino Camara, 50, of 626 Prospect St., had been charged with motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of an accident with death resulting stemming from the Oct. 14, 2007 crash that claimed the life of 38-year-old Maria Aguiar of Chestnut Street.
According to a court clerk, Camara was allowed to remain free on $125,000 cash bail pending his next non-evidentiary court hearing scheduled for March 27.
Camara is accused of striking and of killing Aguiar with his white GMC Yukon while the mother of three was walking down Chestnut Street at around 6:22 p.m. with her 10-year-old daughter, who was riding a bicycle. According to witnesses, he fled the scene, allegedly returning home at about 6:45 p.m.
Aguiar was pronounced dead at the scene and Seekonk Police issued a call to the public to help find the white SUV allegedly involved in the incident.
The next day, Pawtucket and Cumberland Police responded to a single car accident involving a white SUV on I-95 south in Pawtucket that involved Camara’s wife. It is alleged by police that Maria Camara intentionally crashed the SUV into Jersey barriers and a light pole to conceal the damage from her husband’s accident the previous day.
According to Michael Healey, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office, Maria Camara’s accident is still under investigation and he would not comment on it.
After the second incident, and while police were still on the lookout for a white SUV with damage, Laudolino Camara brought the Yukon to an East Providence body repair shop. According to the Bristol County district attorney’s office, Camara requested that the shop owner keep the SUV inside the garage.
However, several days later, a woman who lived near the shop saw the SUV and, thinking that it matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle, called Seekonk police.

Prosecutors and police later said that paint chips taken from the scene, along with other evidence, matched Camara’s SUV. Following a month’s long investigation that involved state and local police, he was arrested on Nov. 9 while at work at American Granite in Seekonk.

If convicted, Camara could reportedly face a maximum of 20 years in prison on the two charges.

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