South River Woman Admits To Drunk Driving, Killing This Man

SOUTH RIVER, NJ — A South River woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in causing the death of a 49-year old North Brunswick man when she was driving while intoxicated.

Phyllis Kocheran, 52, of South River, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated for striking and causing the death of William Oross, pictured above, on May 3, 2018.

Kocheran was arrested and charged following an investigation by Detective Joseph Guiamano of the South River Police Department and Detective Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

They say that Kocheran was driving her blue 2011 Jeep Wrangler on Pulawski Avenue at 11:17 a.m. on May 3 of this year while highly intoxicated and she struck William Oross. Oross was working for a private recycling company at the time he was struck. He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead from the blunt force injuries he sustained from being hit by her Jeep.

The 49-year-old North Brunswick man worked for Solterra recycling company.

Under a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Keith Abrams, Kocheran will be sentenced to a prison term of six years; she has to serve 85 percent of her sentence before being eligible for parole.

Oross, known as "Wild Bill" to his friends and family, was remembered in a loving obituary as an avid fisherman who lived life by a unique motto: "Loved by few, hated by many, respected by all." Oross lived much of his life in Spotswood before recently moving to North Brunswick.

Photo of victim William Oross used with permission from Brunswick Memorial Home.

Ongoing Patch reporting: South River Woman Charged With DWI After Hitting, Killing Man