Woman Killed by Drugged Driver
In April 2026, a woman from Freehold was driving to work for a night shift. At about 11:00 p.m., as she drove on Route 9, a Volkswagen Jetta driving in the opposite direction bounced off of a guardrail and veered into her lane, striking her Honda head on. She was pronounced dead shortly after the accident. She was 37 years old and is survived by her three daughters, her sister, and her nieces. Friends started a fundraising campaign to help offset the financial losses arising from her children’s early and sudden loss of their mother. As for what caused the driver of the Volkswagen to lose control of his car, toxicology tests were positive for alcohol and prescription drugs, so his impairment was almost certainly the direct cause of the accident. He is now facing charges for vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide. Regardless of whether he gets convicted, the victim’s surviving relatives have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. If you have been injured by a drugged driver who had driven under the influence of drugs many times previously, contact an auto accident lawyer.
At Fault Driver Was Under the Influence of Alcohol, Hydrocodone, and Gabapentin
In New Jersey, you can go to prison for causing an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but simple DWI cases that do not involve collisions go through traffic court instead of criminal court. The driver that caused the fatal collision on Route 9 had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.09 percent, which would qualify as DWI by itself, but he was also under the influence of hydrocodone, which is a prescription opioid painkiller, and gabapentin, a central nervous system depressant which can treat pain and epilepsy. News sources did not say whether the driver had a valid prescription for those drugs or whether he possessed them illegally.
They did say that he had a prior history of drugged driving. In 2019, he crashed into a parked car while under the influence of heroin, but no one got injured in that collision. Therefore, the state downgraded the charges so that it proceeded in traffic court like a simple DWI case. The defendant had previously served time in prison for heroin possession. The arrest that led to his prison sentence was only for possession; it did not involve drugged driving.
If they choose to do so, the victim’s surviving relatives have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. If the defendant gets convicted of vehicular homicide and goes to prison, though, it is unlikely that he will be able to pay the damages that the court orders him to pay, unless he is wealthy.
Contact Monaco Law About Car Accidents
Contact Monaco Law PC in Marlton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss your car accident case. Joseph Monaco is a New Jersey and Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer and wrongful death attorney serving Atlantic County, Bucks County, Burlington County, Cape May County, Camden County, Chester County, Cumberland County, Delaware County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Middlesex County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Ocean County, Salem County, Susquehanna County and all of New Jersey.
Source:
nj1015.com/cormier-nj-vehicular-homicide/
