Baby killed after unlicensed Trenton woman struck mom pushing stroller in NJ parking lot: Officials
JACKSON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- A 9-month-old baby is dead after officials say an unlicensed driver struck a mother who was pushing a stroller with two children inside.
It happened in the parking lot of a grocery store in Jackson Township, New Jersey, on Friday, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.
Two women were charged in the incident, according to officials.
Maria CobonGuzman, 20, of Trenton, was charged with manslaughter, operating a vehicle without ever having possessed or issued a valid driver's license, and two counts of assault by auto, Billhimer said.
Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, 22, of Toms River, was charged with knowingly engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death to another, in connection with the same incident.
Police said a mother and her two children, a 5-year-old girl and a nine-month-old boy were hit by a vehicle in the NPGS grocery store parking lot on West County Line Road in Jackson Township around 11:55 a.m.
All three were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. The mother and 5-year-old are in stable condition and the nine-month-old was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Police said CobonGuzman was driving a Ford Fusion in the parking lot of the grocery store when she hit the mother and the baby carriage carrying both children.
A further investigation revealed CobonGuzman did not possess, nor had she ever possessed, a valid driver's license in New Jersey or any other state.
Police said Lazaro-Flores was aware of that and let CobonGuzman operate the vehicle.
They were taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail.
The incident remains under investigation.
