Trenton resident Jorge DeLeon of Elm Street was killed early yesterday morning during a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver; the accident also seriously wounded DeLeon’s two young passengers, officials said
HAMILTON — While Father’s Day was an opportunity for celebration for many, that was not the case for a Trenton family mourning the death of a 28-year-old man and the serious injuries of his two children, one of whom also is not expected to survive.
Trenton resident Jorge DeLeon of Elm Street was killed early yesterday morning during a head-on crash with an alleged drunken driver; the accident also seriously wounded DeLeon’s two young passengers, officials said.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against the other driver, including death by auto and DWI.
Sgt. Adam Grossman, a spokesman for the N.J. State Police, said DeLeon was driving northbound on Route 29 near the Route 129 exit in a Nissan Quest with a 6-year-old male and a 4-year-old female just before 3:30 a.m.
“They were struck head on by a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction,” he said.
DeLeon was pronounced dead at the scene, State Police said.
The young girl was transported by medevac helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was originally listed in critical condition with trauma to the back of her head and a brain hematoma and swelling.
First Assistant Prosecutor Angelo Onofri of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said that her condition had been upgraded to stable, but that things had taken a turn for the worse by yesterday afternoon and doctors did not expect her to survive.
The boy was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in serious condition with what Onofri described as non-life threatening injuries, including a broken right arm.
The other vehicle, a Dodge Durango, was driven by Manuel Gutierrez Vazquez, 27, a resident of the 1500 block of Collins Road in Camden. He suffered a fractured right arm in the crash, and was transported to Capital Health Reigonal Medical Center.
Onofri said Vazquez has been charged with DWI, one count of death by auto, two counts of assault by auto and one count of causing death or serious injury while unlicensed. He also said that Vazquez is not in the United States legally, and has never possessed a U.S. driver’s license.
He also said Vazquez was arrested a few weeks ago in Texas for drunken driving.
Vazquez was released from the hospital and lodged at Mercer County Correctional Center in lieu of bail, which was set by Superior Court Judge Patrick McManimon at $250,000 cash.
Onofri said the investigation will include an inquiry into where Vazquez was drinking prior to getting behind the wheel. Blood was drawn following the crash, but results were not immediately available.
Chief Thomas Gribbin of the Rusling Hose Fire Company in Hamilton, responded to the scene, which he described as “horrific and sad.”
“These things shouldn’t happen any day of the week,” he said, “but that it happened on Father’s Day made it even worse.”
He said that the extent of the victims’ injuries was apparent when the first engine arrived.
“When our crew arrived on scene, there was a fatality in one vehicle and two small children outside of the vehicle laying on the ground,” he said. “They found life in the two children and they immediately treated and transported them.”
Onofri said the children were removed from the car by a witness to the crash.
Gribbin said that DeLeon’s vehicle had sustained “heavy impact to the front end, and the dashboard and steering column were pushed in.”
DeLeon had to be extricated from the vehicle after the investigation, Gribbin said.
It remains unclear why DeLeon was traveling with the children at such an early hour or where they were headed.
“It was just a strange time of the night to be traveling,” said Gribbin. “They must have been in transit somewhere.”
Contact David Karas at dkaras@njtimes.com.
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