No Charges For South Jersey Officer In Fatal Pedestrian Crash: AG

CAMDEN, NJ — A state grand jury has voted not to file criminal charges against a South Jersey police officer who fatally struck a Camden woman with a patrol vehicle, state officials said.

Zandra Baez, 66, was struck and killed on June 9, 2021, by a Camden County Metro Police Department vehicle driven by Officer Kevin R. Gilbert, Jr., the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. Read More: Camden Woman Fatally Struck By Police Car Identified

Following an investigation into the fatal police encounter (including witness interviews, forensic evidence collection, video footage review and autopsy results), the grand jury voted against filing charges on Monday.

Gilbert was on duty and in uniform at the time of the incident, according to police, as he was operating a patrol vehicle 36 mph southbound in a 35 mph zone on Mount Ephraim Avenue, the state Attorney General’s Office said. Shortly before 11 p.m., he struck Baez, who was crossing Mount Ephraim Avenue at Woodlynne Avenue "with a steady green light in the direction he was traveling."

Officer Gilbert immediately stopped and radioed for help, the office said; Baez was pronounced dead at the scene at around 11:09 p.m.

The Attorney General’s office investigates deaths that take place during encounters with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody, requiring that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

"After considering evidence, testimony from the [Office of Public Integrity & Accountability] investigation, and instructions on the legal standards, including whether the officer's actions caused Ms. Baez’s death, the state grand jury determined that no criminal charges should be brought against the officer," the attorney general’s office said.

— Reporting by Nicole Rosenthal