A Manchester man has been charged in connection with a fatal crash last month in Toms River that claimed the life of a 37-year-old Freehold woman.
Ocean County Prosecutor Brad Billhimer announced that Daniel Cormier, 31, was charged on Monday with vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide stemming from a March 7 crash.
Police responded to the intersection of Lakewood Road and Whitty Road at approximately 11:05 p.m. that day for a reported motor vehicle collision. A subsequent investigation found that a Volkswagen Jetta driven by Cormier was traveling southbound when it struck a guardrail, causing the vehicle to lose control and cross into oncoming traffic, where it collided head-on with a northbound Honda Accord driven by Shamirah Nolan.
Nolan was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where she was pronounced dead. Cormier was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.
Responding officers at the scene observed signs that Cormier may have been impaired, authorities said. A court-authorized blood draw was conducted at the hospital, and results later showed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.09, above New Jersey’s legal limit of 0.08. Investigators also determined that Cormier had Gabapentin and Hydrocodone in his system.
Based on those findings, Cormier was charged. He surrendered to Toms River police the same day and was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he remains held pending a detention hearing.
The investigation was conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit–Vehicular Homicide Squad, the Toms River Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
