Woman charged with driving while impaired in fatal Medford Lakes crash that killed teen
Gianna Mastalski, 17, died in the head-on crash. She was a senior at Clearview Regional High School.
MEDFORD LAKES, New Jersey (WPVI) -- A 58-year-old New Jersey woman has been charged with driving while impaired in a crash that killed a high school student earlier this year.
According to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, Theresa McElvarr, of Shamong, is charged with Vehicular Homicide and four counts of Assault by Auto.
The crash happened around 12:30 a.m. on June 13 at Stokes Road and Pawnee Trail in Medford Lakes.
Police say McElvarr veered into the oncoming lane and crash head-on into a Honda Civic with five people inside. Numerous rescue squads responded to the scene.
The driver of the Civic, 17-year-old Gianna Mastalski, of Mullica Hill, died in the crash. She was a senior at Clearview Regional High School.
The four passengers were taken to Cooper University Hospital with broken bones and injuries. The passengers were all 17 years old.
Nicolas Ferrer, Mastalski's boyfriend, was in the backseat at the time and spoke to Action News about the crash.
"The only thing stopping me from going through the windshield was my jaw hitting the dash," said Ferrer.
He still is grappling with his injuries and is devastated by the loss of Mastalski.
He questioned why the suspect had to get behind the wheel allegedly intoxicated.
"If you know you're going to be driving like that, go park somewhere, calm yourself down before you go driving. It's not worth it," said Ferrer.
Mastalski's friend, Meghan Harkins, said they are all still grieving.
"That's all I think about, is her all the time. And she just sticks with everybody, she touched everyone," said Harkins.
Harley Wirth, who was also friends with Mastalski, said, "If I needed someone to be there for me, she would drop everything that was going on."
