A 24-year-old man has been indicted on a vehicular homicide charge stemming from the death of a driver in a 2024 head-on collision, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.

Deryn R. Gomez, 24, of Brick, has been indicted on the second-degree charge stemming from the incident.

The case background …

On Oct. 26, 2024, at 4:20 a.m., NJ state police responded to a three-vehicle crash on the southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway in the area of milepost 102.8 in Tinton Falls. The crash was described as an opposite-direction, head-on collision.

An investigation by members of the NJ State Police Criminal Investigation Office, along with detectives from the MCPO Major Crimes Bureau, revealed that Gomez was driving a 2013 Honda Accord north in the southbound lanes of the parkway when he struck a 2002 Honda Civic traveling in a southbound direction.

After the initial crash, both vehicles were later struck by a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta operated by a male driver traveling in the southbound lanes of the parkway. 

The female driver of the Honda Civic, later identified as Priscilla Gladden-Pertuz, 28, of Paterson, was pronounced dead on the scene.

During the course of the investigation, Gomez was issued motor vehicle summonses for driving while intoxicated (DWI), reckless driving, and driving against the flow of traffic.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office

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