3-year-old child of Waretown woman killed in Freehold Township crash Thursday has died
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - A 3-year-old child whose mother lost her life in a crash Thursday evening has died from injuries suffered in the accident that also injured her two older siblings, authorities said Monday.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said the toddler died Sunday following the crash that instantly killed her 42-year-old mother, identified as Denise A. James, 42, of Waretown.
James' husband, Lt. Craig James, is a corrections officer at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, a facility for sex offenders located in the Avenel section of Woodbridge said Eddie Sullivan, president of the New Jersey Superior Officers Law Enforcement Association.
The association has launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe that raised $48,000 by Monday afternoon.
The prosecutor's office did not name the dead 3-year-old, saying it does not disclose the identities of minors, but the superior officers union identified the child on the GoFundMe page as Lily. The page said Lily was taken off life support and will be an organ donor.
The James' two sons, ages 9 and 13, were hospitalized after the crash, but are now home, Sullivan said.
"They were notified about their 3-year-old sister,'' the union leader said. "You can't even talk about it without getting choked up.''Sullivan, who personally knows Craig James from previously working with him as a corrections officer at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, said James was planning to retire soon and looking forward to making up for time missed with his family while working long shifts in state prisons.
"He's hanging in there, but it's just a total loss,'' Sullivan said of Craig James. "To lose not one, but two members of your family, a 3-year-old plus your wife who you dedicated your life to, it's crazy, crazy. It's terrible.
Of Denise James, Sullivan said, "By all accounts, she was cherished.''
Denise James was a nurse, Sullivan said, although he did not know where she worked.
Based on comments about her left on the GoFundMe page, "She had a profound impact on the families she served,'' Sullivan said. "The people she worked for and the people she cared for are devastated, just like the rest of us. Everybody is hugging their kids and their families a little bit closer today.''
The GoFundMe page was set up to to defray the cost of two funerals and to enable Craig James to take a leave of absence from work until he is eligible to retire "so he can take care of his two boys,'' Sullivan said.
The three-vehicle crash remains under investigation.
Police and county accident investigators went to Siloam Road and Old Turkey Swamp Road about 5 p.m. on the report of a serious accident.
A Ford F350 pickup truck driven by a 53-year-old Little Egg Harbor man, a Chrysler Pacifica minivan driven by the Waretown woman and a Honda CR-V, an SUV, driven by a 34-year-old Jackson man were involved in the collision, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said Friday.
According to a preliminary investigation, the pickup truck drove out of the southbound lane of Siloam Road and hit the Honda with a "glancing blow," then struck the minivan head-on, Linskey said.
James died at the scene. Her 3-year-old child was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Her two other children, were taken to the medical center by ambulance, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Linskey said.
The driver of the pickup truck and the Honda stayed at the scene.
Linskey is urging anyone who witnessed the collision or has information about it to call Detective Nicolas Logothetis at of the Prosecutor's Office at 800-533-7443 or Freehold Township Police Department Detective Lt. Joseph Winowski at 732-294-5139.
Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime, local issues and investigations. Reach him at kserrano@gannettnj.com.
Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Child dies following Freehold Township crash that killed mom
