Teenage Girl Killed While Crossing Route 70 With Mom And Sister: Police

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A teenage girl died Tuesday night after she was hit by a car while crossing Route 70 in Lakewood, police said.

The 15-year-old girl was crossing Route 70 in the crosswalk at Vermont Avenue with her mother and younger sister when she was hit by a white 2006 Lexus driven by a 19-year-old Toms River man, Lakewood Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said. The family was crossing to the south in the crosswalk, and the Toms River teen was driving west on Route 70, he said.

Lakewood Officer Christopher Dunphy was at a nearby convenience store and heard the girl get hit, Staffordsmith said, followed by yelling and screaming that someone had been hit by a car.

Dunphy drove there and found the girl was unresponsive and lying in the road behind the car; the driver of the Lexus stayed at the scene, Staffordsmith said.

Hatzolah EMS arrived as Dunphy was getting his medical equipment from his car, and began trying to save the girl's life, he said. She was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood but succumbed to her injuries, Staffordsmith said.

The investigation is continuing, Staffordsmith said, with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and the Ocean County Sheriff's Department assisting.

The driver of the 2006 Lexus is cooperating with law enforcement, he said, and no charges have been filed at this time.