Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Unlicensed Driver Charged After Baby Killed in Jackson Township Grocery Lot

The Ocean County prosecutor charged two women after a Ford Fusion struck a mother and her children in a supermarket parking lot.

Overview

  • The crash occurred Friday when a Ford Fusion struck a mother pushing a stroller in the NPGS grocery lot on West County Line Road, and a nine-month-old boy was later pronounced dead at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
  • The mother and her five-year-old daughter were taken to the same hospital and are reported in stable condition.
  • Prosecutors say 20-year-old Maria CobonGuzman faces manslaughter, operating a vehicle without ever having possessed a valid driver’s license, and two counts of assault by auto.
  • Officials say 22-year-old Ariadna Lazaro-Flores was charged with knowingly engaging in conduct that created a substantial risk of death by allowing the unlicensed person to drive and both women are in custody at the Ocean County Jail.
  • Authorities are continuing a criminal investigation into how an unlicensed driver came to operate the vehicle and into the full circumstances of the collision, and prosecutors have not released additional public comment.