Vehicular Homicide, DWI Charge For Driver In Crash That Killed South Jersey Teen

MEDFORD LAKES, NJ — A South Jersey woman faces vehicular homicide charges and officials say she was driving while impaired when she crashed into a car with five teenagers inside, killing one.

Officials served Theresa McElvarr of Shamong Township with a warrant for vehicular homicide and assault by auto on Tuesday, according to a news release.

McElvarr, 58, was severely injured from the June 13 crash according to Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Medford Lakes Police Chief Robert Dugan Jr.

Officials say they also charged her with driving while impaired when they served a warrant at her home, where she is still recovering.

17-year-old Gianna Mastalski died shortly after the head-on collision in Medford Lakes, according to Bradshaw and Dugan. Mastalski, of Mullica Hill, was driving a Honda Civic and had four passengers of the same age in the car with her, officials said.

McElvarr was driving north on Stokes Road near Pawnee Trail when she "veered into the oncoming lane" and hit Mastalski's southbound car head-on, said officials. The crash happened shortly after midnight, officials said.

First responders took Mastalski to Virtua Marlton Hospital, and she was pronounced dead at approximately 1:45 a.m., officials said. Emergency crews took McElvarr and three of the other teens to Cooper University Hospital in Camden "with broken bones and other injuries."

The teenagers were released from the hospital, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Bradshaw and Dugan said they will present the case against McElvarr to a grand jury for a possible indictment.

Mastalski, also known as "G," was born in Voorhees and had recently graduated from Clearview High School, according to her obituary in the South Jersey Times. She enjoyed singing, riding her skateboard, camping and hiking, and spending time with family and friends.

Mastalski developed a talent for doing makeup, and friends and family sought her out to do theirs too. She made "everyone else feel just as beautiful as she was," the obituary says.