What Happened
Brett Martin, 51, a correction officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, was struck and killed on Interstate 95 in Boxford, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, after stopping to help at an existing crash scene, according to Boston 25 News.
According to his wife, Jennifer Martin, Brett was on his way to New Hampshire to pick up a prescription before he was scheduled to report for his overnight shift in Boston. When he came upon a crash on I-95 in Boxford, he did what those who knew him said he always did — he pulled over to help. He was struck and killed while trying to assist those involved in that prior accident, per Boston 25 News.
Martin had served as a correction officer with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for nearly two decades. He had recently been promoted to the rank of corporal. Originally from Holbrook, Massachusetts, Martin had lived in Norton, Massachusetts, for the past nine years with his wife. The couple would have celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary next year.
Jennifer Martin described her husband in raw, grief-stricken terms to Boston 25 News. “He made me laugh; he made me smile. He was my best friend I loved him more than anything and he promised not to die before me and he did, but it was to help somebody else, I can’t explain it,” she said. She added: “If he didn’t have to go up there, if he didn’t have to work it would be all different, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. We’re all a mess we all don’t know how to deal with it it’s just a bad dream.”
Martin was known by family and colleagues as a devoted husband, stepfather, brother, son, and friend. Jennifer Martin said her husband never hesitated to help others: “He would never not help somebody he would go out of his way to make anyone’s life a little easier. Always tell your family you love them don’t take anything for granted because it can be gone in a minute it can be gone in a minute.”
A longtime friend and coworker at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office echoed that tribute, as reported by Boston 25 News. “He was fun he was always there to help other people whether you knew him or not that’s it,” the coworker said. “He would give you the shirt off his back period, for anyone whether he knew you or not that’s what he was. A big loss and sadness because we’re going to miss him and we feel for his family.”
Location & Road Context
The fatal incident took place on Interstate 95 in Boxford, Massachusetts — a major north-south highway corridor connecting the Boston metro area to New Hampshire and beyond. Martin was traveling the route between his home in Norton and his destination in New Hampshire before his overnight shift in Boston, a journey that takes drivers along one of the busiest and most heavily traveled stretches of highway in New England.
While this incident occurred outside Long Island, Brett Martin held his post with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department on Long Island, where our local incident database has recorded 675 accidents. The dangers faced by Good Samaritans who stop at highway crash scenes are a recurring concern across all high-speed roadways, including Long Island’s own expressways and parkways.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Massachusetts State Police are investigating the fatal crash on I-95 in Boxford. As of the afternoon of July 28, 2026, no charges had been publicly announced and the investigation remains ongoing, according to Boston 25 News. Boston 25 News separately reported it has reached out to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office for comment; no response had been issued at the time of publication.
Broader Impact
Martin’s death is a sobering reminder of the life-threatening risk faced by Good Samaritans who stop to assist at highway crash scenes. In Massachusetts and across the country, Move Over laws require drivers to slow down and shift lanes away from stopped emergency and disabled vehicles — protections that extend, in many states, to civilians who have pulled over. Anyone who witnesses a crash on a high-speed roadway is urged by safety officials to call 911 and activate hazard lights rather than exiting their vehicle on an active travel lane.