A 37-year-old New Jersey woman has been arrested on charges including vehicular homicide and manslaughter in a late May crash that killed a child in her SUV and a 36-year-old woman in another as she drove while using her cellphone, authorities say.
Sorah Tyner, of Toms River, is also accused of child endangerment, assault by auto, hindering and obstruction in the 5 p.m. crash on May 30 near Cleveland Court and East Veterans Highway in Jackson Township.
According to investigators, Tyner was driving west on East Veterans Highway when she allegedly failed to negotiate a left-hand curve and crossed into the eastbound lane, striking an SUV driven by Carolina Bonilla-Hernandez, of Jackson Township. Bonilla-Hernandez, 36, was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
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WATCH HEREAlso pronounced dead at a hospital: one of the children in Tyner's SUV. That child was wearing a seatbelt, though should have been in a rear/front-facing child car seat given his age and weight, investigators say. His age was not released. A second child in the car was in an appropriate car seat.
That child remains hospitalized in stable condition, as of the latest update.
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SIGN UP Tyner was treated for her injuries and released from the hospital. Her relationship to the children who were in her vehicle at the time of the accident wasn't immediately clear.
Detectives determined Tyner's vehicle was in the oncoming lane for some distance prior to impact, and she allegedly didn't take corrective actions to avoid the crash. A court-authorized search warrant to extract data from her phone revealed she was allegedly using her cellphone at the time. She also allegedly made inconsistent statements.
Local
Tyner was arrested Thursday at her home. She was taken to Ocean County Jail, where she was lodged Friday pending a detention hearing. Attorney information for her wasn't immediately available.
