5-Year Sentence For Woman Texting And Driving In Fatal Collision

HAZLET, NJ – A Keansburg woman was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday in connection with a 2016 fatal collision in Hazlet, which took the life of a pedestrian, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Trial evidence showed that Alexandra Mansonet, 51, was texting and driving at the time of a fatal crash on Laurel Avenue, which killed 39-year-old Yuwen Wang.

Following a three-week trial on November 22, 2019, a trial jury returned a guilty verdict for second-degree vehicular homicide. Mansonet was sentenced to serve for half a decade in state prison on Aug. 21.

At approximately 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2016 at the intersection of Laurel Avenue and Sixth Street in Hazlet, Mansonet’s vehicle rear-ended a car that slowed at the intersection. The other car, operated by Robert Matich of Keansburg, slowed for pedestrians looking to cross Laurel Avenue at the marked crosswalk. As Matich brought his vehicle to a controlled stop, Mansonet’s vehicle collided with the rear of his vehicle, which was propelled forward, striking Wang.

The victim was transported via helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center’s Trauma Unit in New Brunswick, where she died from her injuries on Oct. 3, 2016.

An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART) and Hazlet Township Police Department found that Mansonet was using her cell phone while driving and made no observations of Matich’s car. Mansonet also never activated her brakes and collided with the vehicle, which caused it to propel forward and fatally strike Wang.

The Keansburg resident is subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA) which requires her to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. She will also be on parole for a period of three years once released.

Mansonet was released following sentencing on the condition that she turn herself in on Tuesday, Aug. 25 by 3 p.m. to begin serving her sentence, unless the Appellate Division reverses the court's ruling and grants bail pending her appeal.

Thanks for reading! Have a news tip? Email nicole.rosenthal@patch.com.
Want to write for Patch? Click here.
Click here to get Patch email notifications, or get breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app, download here. Follow Holmdel-Hazlet Patch on Facebook.