Toms River woman sentenced in grisly drunken driving crash that killed Old Bridge man
TOMS RIVER - A township woman has been sentenced to five years in state prison for a horrific motor vehicle crash in which she struck and killed an Old Bridge man, pinning him between her car and his own, while she was driving drunk, said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Ashley Beams, 32, will be required to serve at least 85% of the sentence before she is eligible for parole. The crash took place on Feb. 8, 2022 on Bay Avenue in Toms River. Beams pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in July.
The victim, James Cruz, 62, of the Parlin section of Old Bridge, died after Beams failed to maintain her lane while going east on Bay Avenue. After passing Twin Oaks Drive, Beams wandered onto the shoulder of the road where Cruz was parked and was in the process of getting a package out of the trunk of his vehicle, a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday.
The subsequent impact caused Cruz’s body to become wedged between the two vehicles and he was carried “a significant distance eastbound on Bay Avenue.” Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers from the Toms River Police Department responded about 10:30 p.m. on that date, the statement said.
Previously: Toms River woman indicted in crash that killed Old Bridge man
After the crash, Beams underwent a blood test and was found to have had a blood alcohol concentration level that was “substantially higher” than .08 — the threshold by which a motorist in New Jersey is determined to be operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Beams on Friday also pleaded guilty — before state Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan — to the motor vehicle offense of driving while under the influence of alcohol, the statement said.
After the crash, Beams had been taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for injuries she suffered in the impact, at which time a sample of her blood was drawn, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Beams was arrested on the charges Feb. 16, 2022 after an investigation by the Vehicular Homicide Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Unit. She was taken to the county jail in Toms River at the time, but was later released pending the outcome of the criminal case against her.
Supervising Assistant Prosecutors Robert Cassidy and Jamie Schron handled the case on behalf of the state of New Jersey.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River NJ woman sentenced for vehicular homicide of Old Bridge man
