SALEM — Eric Fraser, the father of an autistic boy who died last March after his mother allegedly failed to give him chemotherapy medications, has died.
Fraser, 38, was taken off life support earlier this week and died Thursday afternoon at Massachusetts General Hospital, his lawyer, Bradford Keene, said yesterday.
Fraser, of Saugus, was critically injured in a motorcycle crash in Malden nearly two weeks ago. Fraser and another rider crashed their bikes on Highland Avenue on the night of Oct. 25. The other rider died that night.
It's the latest tragedy for the family. Fraser had also recently lost both of his parents.
Jeremy Fraser was 9 when he died of leukemia in March. Prosecutors have charged the child's mother, Kristen LaBrie of Salem, with failing to provide needed medications and missing medical appointments.
Eric Fraser and Kristen LaBrie had gone through a contentious divorce and custody battle, which eventually led to an estrangement between Fraser and his son for several months, during which the boy's illness became more advanced.
Fraser had expressed regret that he wasn't part of his son's life during the time prosecutors say LaBrie was withholding the medications.
In a conversation following LaBrie's most recent court appearance on Oct. 14, Fraser told a reporter that he had undergone a spiritual awakening and had recently begun attending church and reading the Bible.
He had also moved out of the family home where both his parents and Jeremy had spent their final days, saying that it was too difficult to live with the painful memories.
Fraser said he felt ready at the time to move forward with his life.
Keene said Fraser's surviving relatives, a brother and a sister, were still making funeral arrangements late yesterday.
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