A Rockaway Township woman is headed to prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a fatal drunk driving accident earlier this year.
The tragic car crash occurred around 9:41 p.m. on June 26, 2016. The motorist, a 63-year-old woman from Rockaway Township NJ, was driving a red 2001 Chevrolet on Upper Hibernia Road in Rockaway when she lost control of the vehicle and left the roadway. The car eventually came to a stop after slamming into a tree and a residential mailbox.
The driver was seriously injured in the accident, as was her passenger. The passenger was the driver’s 40-year-old son, who also lived in Rockaway Township, New Jersey.
The driver was taken by ambulance to Morristown Medical Center, while the passenger, a developmentally disabled man, was rushed to the hospital via helicopter. Tragically, doctors could not save the passenger; he was pronounced dead three days after the auto accident.
A blood test of the suspect later showed that her blood alcohol content (BAC) was at .264 percent, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent in the State of New Jersey. As a result, the suspect was charged with second degree death by auto and Driving While Intoxicated (DWI).
Additionally, it turned out that the suspect had a prior DWI conviction in Rockaway Township, NJ. According to prosecutors, the suspect was drunk when she crashed her motor vehicle into a utility pole in April 2014.
The suspect used to work as a transportation supervisor for the Rockaway Township school district. However, she lost her job with the school district after the 2014 DWI crash.
Now the suspect is likely headed to prison after pleading guilty to death by auto and Driving While Intoxicated in connection with the most recent accident. She will be subject to a term of incarceration of five years, which is what Morris County prosecutors are recommending to the sentencing judge.
For more information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Mom Pleads Guilty to Death by Auto for DWI Crash That Killed Son.”
