Several Victims Identified After Tragic Crash Kills 6 In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — Five of the six people who died in a tragic car crash in Newark earlier this month have been identified, authorities announced Tuesday.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the crash took place at 10:47 p.m. on Friday at the intersection of Raymond Boulevard and Blanchard Street.

The vehicle – which had six people onboard – was traveling on Raymond Boulevard towards the southbound on-ramp for Routes 1& 9, when it went off the roadway, became airborne and hit a support column for the Pulaski Skyway before landing on the ground and bursting into flames, prosecutors said.

The six people in the car were killed. They were all Jersey City residents, authorities said.

Essex County prosecutors said the medical examiner has confirmed the identities of five of the victims:

“31-year-old Lamar McKnight has been identified as the driver. 29-year-old Darryl McKnight, 22-year-old Darnell Carr, 41-year-old Bradley Cunningham and 31-year-old Veronica Bailey have also been confirmed as victims.”

Prosecutors haven’t released the name of the sixth victim. Results of DNA testing are still pending, authorities said.

McKnight and Cunningham were football coaches at a high school in Jersey City. The news left the Garden State’s “tight-knit football community reeling from the “devastating loss,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said. Read More: 2 Coaches At Hudson County School Die In Car Crash

New Jersey Sen. Angela McKnight said that Lamar McKnight and Darryl McKnight – who was a counselor and a retail worker – are members of her family.

“Lamar and Darryl were two brothers who touched countless lives within our family and the broader community,” the state senator wrote. “Their loss leaves an immeasurable hole in our hearts that words cannot fully express.”

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the additional passengers of this devastating tragedy,” McKnight said. “May we honor each of their memory by remembering the joy they brought into our lives.”

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