Two girls' lives 'were ruined'; Stafford man gets 21 years in horrific fatal collision

TOMS RIVER - Two teenage girls went out for dinner and ice cream one night in 2021 when a chance encounter on the way home sealed for them a horrible fate.

In a head-on crash on the way home, Gianna Palmieri, 15, suffered fatal injuries and her friend, Kaitlyn Edwards, then 17, was hurt so seriously she will never be able to have children.

Now, the 29-year-old Stafford man whose actions caused the crash involving the two Pinelands Regional High School students will be in state prison at least until he is in his 40s.

Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan sentenced the man, Michael Pillarella, to a total of 21 years in prison for causing death and serious injury to the two teens by crashing head-on into their car on Jan. 30, 2021, while he was driving at double the speed limit and under the influence of alcohol, methadone, fentanyl and alprazolam.

Ryan sentenced Pillarella to 17 years in prison for the manslaughter of Palmieri and an additional four years to be served, after he completes the first sentence, for aggravated assault on Edwards.

Pillarella must serve 85 percent of the 17-year prison term, or 14 years, five months and 14 days, before he can be considered for parole on that sentence, under the state's No Early Release Act, the judge said.

At the behest of prosecutors, Ryan agreed to sentence Pillarella as a persistent offender to an extended term for the manslaughter conviction because of his prior convictions for thefts and drug offenses, otherwise the maximum sentence for that offense would have been 10 years in prison.

The judge noted the accident occurred when the two two teenagers were on their way home after having dinner and stopping for ice cream.

Despite a number of people pleading with Pillarella not to drive because of his impaired condition, he got behind the wheel of his car anyway, the judge said.

"That car was a missile that was going to hit somebody,'' Ryan said. "Sadly, Kaitlyn and Gianna were the ones who were struck.''

Pillarella was driving in the wrong lane of traffic on Radio Road in Little Egg Harbor, at 80 mph in a 45 mph zone, when he struck the Toyota that Edwards was driving, in which Palmieri was a passenger, the judge noted.

Both teenagers, severely injured, were airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Barbara Palmieri, the victim's mother, was flanked by the victim's father, Jimmy Palmieri, and brother, Gerard, as she read a statement about the impact of her daughter's death.

"She was bright, she was intelligent, she was kind, caring, compassionate, sympathetic and empathetic,'' Barbara Palmieri said of her daughter. "She brought us love and joy everyday, and we are heartbroken without her.''

She said Pillarella has shown no regard for the law.

"For two years, he has sat here smug and unapologetic,'' Barbara Palmieri said of the defendant.

She asked Ryan to sentence Pillarella to the maximum term allowed by law.

Edwards' mother, Barbara Albright, recounted how she and her husband drove up on the horrific crash scene that night, seeing a car so mangled, they couldn't tell if it was their daughter's.

"It is the worst possible experience that any parent should have to go through,'' Albright said.

"You, sir, you took the life of someone that night and you also took the right of someone to give life, and I hope that stays with you for the rest of your life,'' Albright said to the defendant.

"Yes, you do deserve everything. possible under the law because of what you've done to our family as well as to the Palmieris,'' she said.

Edwards told the judge she feels pain and survivor's guilt everyday, wondering why she survived the crash and her friend didn't.

She said her "mental health has plummeted'' as a result.

Not only did she lose a friend, but she lost her ability to have children because of intestinal injuries so severe, they will likely never be repaired, Edwards said.

"You took away the chance of me having kids because of the intestinal injuries I had as a result of the accident,'' Edwards said to Pillarella.

"It is two girls whose lives were ruined,'' she said. "There will never be a sentence remotely long enough or fair.''

Heather Duyn, a family friend of the Palmieris whose daughter has been friends with Gianna since age 4, told the judge that she, her daughter and her daughter's friends prayed for a miracle for 10 days.

"It was never granted,'' she said.

Gianna succumbed to her injuries on Feb. 9, 2021. Duyn said her daughter "collapsed on the floor, screaming,'' when she told her the news.

Defense attorney Ernest Ryberg of the Public Defender's Office said everyone agrees the crash is a tragedy that should never have happened.

"If he had the chance to sign for a life sentence to undo what happened, he would,'' Ryberg said of Pillarella.

Pillarella blamed drug addiction.

"When I use, all I care about is myself,'' he told the judge.

His decision to drive that night was "really a hallmark of my selfishness,'' Pillarella said.

He asked the judge to send him to a prison where he can get help for his addiction.

"I want to serve time for both these young women,'' Pillarella told the judge. "I feel I deserve it.''

He also said he was sorry and "deeply ashamed for what I did.''

Robert Cassidy, assistant Ocean County prosecutor, told the judge Pillarella is minimizing his responsibility.

Pillarella decided to mix methadone, alprazolam, fentanyl and alcohol and drive, Cassidy said. He was ordering double shots of vodka, along with  beer,  at a bar before getting behind the wheel of his car, the assistant prosecutor said. Pillarella was seen on video unable to walk and being escorted out of the bar while people were pleading with him not to drive, Cassidy said.

A drug expert testified at trial that Pillarella, under the circumstances, was "a ticking time bomb,'' Cassidy said.

Pillarella stood trial before Ryan earlier this year. A jury acquitted him of aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, but found him guilty of a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter in Palmieri's death, as well as aggravated assault on Edwards.

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: Stafford man sentenced to 21 years in fatal crash with teenaged girls