Man Was Drunk In Route 9 Crash That Killed Nursing Assistant, Prosecutor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Manchester Township man was intoxicated in crash on Route 9 that killed a certified nursing assistant from Freehold in March, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

Daniel T. Cormier, 31, has been charged with vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide in the March 7 crash that killed Shamirah Nolan, 37, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Nolan, a mother of three and a certified nursing assistant, was driving north on Route 9 on her way to work at Complete Care of Bey Lea when her Honda Accord was hit head-on by Cormier just after 11 p.m., authorities said.

Cormier had been driving south on Route 9 when his Volkswagen Jetta veered off the road, hit a guardrail and then hit Nolan's Honda near Whitty Road, authorities said.

Nolan was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where she was pronounced dead, the prosecutor's office said.

Cormier was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Toms River police officers who responded to the crash observed Cormier appeared to be impaired and his blood was drawn under a search warrant at the hospital, the prosecutor's office said.

Lab results received by the prosecutor's office on Monday showed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.09 percent, the prosecutor's office said.

The tests also showed Cormier had gabapentin and hydrocodone in his system, "rendering him unfit to operate a motor vehicle," the prosecutor's office said.

Cormier surrendered himself to Toms River Police Headquarters on Monday and he was taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he is being held pending a detention hearing.