Prosecutor: Ex-Long Branch Man Indicted After Car Fatally Pinned Monmouth University Student In Crash

A former Long Branch man was indicted Monday and charged with killing a Monmouth University student who was outside her vehicle following a minor fender bender, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

The incident happened on Joline Avenue in Long Branch in September 2013 after a two car accident, when two drivers involved were standing between their cars when a third driver hit the back of the Monmouth University student’s vehicle, causing her to be fatally pinned, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Joseph Stovall, 47, of now of Nathalie, Va. was named in the four-count indictment charging him with first-degree vehicular homicide and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges, according to the MCPO.

If convicted of vehicular homicide, Stovall faces up to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison, subject to the provisions of the “No Early Release Act” requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole. He would also be under parole supervision for five years following his release from state prison, according to the MCPO.

According to the MCPO:

Long Branch police responded to the report of a motor vehicle accident along Joline Avenue around 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2013. Victoria Tropper, 21, a Monmouth University student, and Thomas Triano, 49, were involved in a minor fender bender and pulled their vehicles into the shoulder to inspect the damage and exchange information.

The two were standing between their respective vehicles when the Dodge Ram pick-up truck driven by Stovall swerved into the shoulder, colliding with Tropper’s vehicle and pushing it into Triano, causing multiple lacerations before striking and killing Tropper.

At the time of the collision, Stovall was driving with a suspended driver’s license and with a 4-year-old child unrestrained inside the truck. The child was not harmed. An investigation also determined Stovall was driving under the influence of Alprazolam, despite not having a valid prescription for the drug.