10 Years For Middletown Woman In Drunk/High Fatal Crash

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A 20-year-old Middletown woman was sentenced Wednesday to serve 10 years in state prison for a fatal drunk driving accident, a crash in which police say she was driving drunk and high and caused the death of her 18-year-old friend, Nicole Smith, also of Middletown.

Kimberly Franklin, 20, of Middletown, pleaded guilty this past February to aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide, assault by auto and driving while intoxicated, said the Middlesex County prosecutor.

Franklin must serve 85 percent of her term before becoming eligible for parole. In addition, she will lose her license for 15 years upon her release from prison. It initially was a five-year license loss, but the judge extended it at the sentencing this week.

A third young woman in the car, Isabella Rosales, 20, also of Middletown, was also seriously injured, as was Franklin herself.

All the young women were local to Middletown, and had graduated from local high schools. In fact, the teen who died, Smith, had just graduated from Middletown North that same year she died.

The tragic crash occurred in the early morning hours of November 26, 2018 on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge: At approximately 1:30 a.m., police say Franklin was driving a 2018 Dodge Charger, at "an excessive rate of speed," down the Parkway south. According to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey, she was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time, and rear-ended a 2009 Nissan Rogue in the area of Woodbridge Township.

The impact of hitting the Nissan caused Franklin's car to strike a guard rail and tree, and then overturn. Her two passengers were ejected from the vehicle.

Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

The third young woman, Rosales, was ejected from the car as well. Franklin was not ejected, but both she and Rosales were seriously injured in the crash. Both surviving young women were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick.

Smith is from the Belford section of Middletown; she had just graduated from Middletown High School North this past June, according to her obituary. She had been very active in the Middletown Pop Warner cheerleader program for many years and traveled all over for cheer competitions, her obituary read.

Her friends, many of them Middletown high school students, set up a tribute page set up in her honor on Facebook.

"You were taken way too early!," wrote one friend.

"Nicole, this isn't real. I was just talking to you hours ago," wrote another. "Please come home, please tell me this isn't real. I love you so much ... please come home."

The driver of the Nissan was not injured.

Past Patch reporting of this crash:

Middletown Woman Admits To Drunk, High Crash That Killed Friend

Middletown Woman, 18, Killed In Parkway Crash Monday
Middletown Mourns Teen Killed In Alleged DUI
Middletown Woman Charged With DUI In Death Of Her Friend
Fatal Accident On Garden State Parkway In Woodbridge: Police