2 Killed In Wrong-Way Crash On NJ Turnpike Saturday

MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two people were killed late Friday night on the New Jersey Turnpike in Monroe Township when a Hamilton man drove the wrong direction on the Turnpike, plowing headfirst into a car being driven by a 23-year-old Newark woman, police said.

Both people were pronounced dead at the scene, NJ State Police said.

The accident happened at 12:20 a.m. Saturday near mile marker 72.4 on the Turnpike, which is in Monroe Township. For reasons unknown, Micah Morris, 41, of Hamilton Township, was driving a Toyota Corolla the wrong direction on the Turnpike, north in the southbound lanes.

He drove headfirst into a Hyundai Elantra being driven by Katherine Ordonez, 23, of Newark.

It is unknown what caused Morris to drive the wrong way, and the investigation is continuing, Sgt. Lawrence Peele said. State Police are not ruling anything out, he said.