Minivan Hits, Kills Woman Waiting At Food Pantry In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A Lakewood woman was killed Saturday and two girls were injured when they were hit by a minivan whose driver was attempting a K turn outside the St. Vincent DePaul food pantry, police said Monday.

Dilcia Maribell Guevara-Tabora, 46, was sitting on a curb at the pantry, at 43 Madison Ave., just before 11 a.m. when she and the girls, ages 12 and 13, were hit by a 2005 Dodge Caravan driven by Abelino Landaverde-Ayala, Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said.

Abelino Landaverde-Ayala, 40, also of Lakewood, told police that as he was trying to back up in the K turn, he either mistakenly put the minivan in forward gear or left it there, and accelerated forward, hitting the girls first, before hitting Guevara-Tabora, Staffordsmith said.

Guevara-Tabora sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, he said. The two girls were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for further evaluation and treatment, Staffordsmith said.

The investigation is continuing, he said, with the assistance of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and the Ocean County Sheriff's Department.

Landaverde-Ayala has received a summons for careless driving, Staffordsmith said, and he said additional charges may be sought.