Lauren Woods

Lauren Woods testified for the prosecution on Day 28 about her efforts to save Lingzi Lu outside the Forum restaurant. The Boston police officer described leaving a shoplifting response at the Prudential Center as people fled through the mall, hearing a loud boom, and running along Boylston Street toward injured people.

Woods said she cleared vomit from Lu's airway and continued chest compressions after an EMT moved on to other victims. Responders moved Lu onto an ambulance, but a paramedic directed them to remove her because she was gone and the ambulance was needed for people who could be saved. Woods volunteered to remain with Lu's covered body. She authenticated four scene photographs, Exhibits 21-49 through 21-52, which were admitted. Her testimony distinguished her CPR and first-aid training from broader medical expertise, and she estimated rather than precisely timed her arrival and compressions.

Woods explained that concern about further injury to Lu's body and her family's ability to see her led her to question Captain Ivens's order to leave amid concern about a possible third device. She ultimately left and later accompanied Lu's parents to the scene. The defense asked no questions.

The scope of Woods's testimony drew objections before and after her examination. Miriam Conrad initially argued that detailed resuscitation testimony risked unfair prejudice under Rule 403; Nadine Pellegrini argued that it supported the government's account of Lu's death. No admissibility ruling was recorded in that discussion. After Woods testified, David Bruck challenged testimony about her cousin's death in Iraq and a service for Lu as irrelevant victim-impact evidence. The government defended the questioning's purpose and said the cousin's story was not intended. The court cautioned that some evidence concerned punishment rather than guilt, directed witness preparation accordingly, and required prior permission for references to Iraq or Afghanistan.