Woman Who Hit Man Unloading Trunk Indicted In Fatal Drunken Driving Crash In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River woman has been indicted in connection with a 2022 crash that killed an Old Bridge man as he unloaded a package from the trunk of his car, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

Ashley Beams, 32, was indicted April 6 on charges of vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide in the Feb. 8, 2022, crash on Bay Avenue that killed James Cruz, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Cruz was retrieving a package from the trunk of his car, which was on the shoulder on Bay Avenue, when Beams drifted out of her lane and hit Cruz, pinning him against his car, authorities said. Beams did not stop on impact, but continued 96 feet from the point where she hit Cruz, authorities said.

A probable cause affidavit said blood tests showed she had a blood alcohol content of 0.321 percent, four times the 0.08 percent limit where a person is considered legally intoxicated in New Jersey. Read more: Woman Had 4 Drinks Before Fatal Toms River Crash: Affidavit

Investigators learned Beams had consumed a Long Island iced tea and three shots of vodka in less than 40 minutes before she hit Cruz at 10:26 p.m., according to the affidavit. Cruz died at the scene, the prosecutor's office said.

Beams, who had served a one-year license suspension in connection with a charge of driving while intoxicated, was arrested Feb. 16, 2022, in connection with the fatal crash and taken to the Ocean County Jail, but was "subsequently released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform," the prosecutor said.

In 2014, Beams was arrested in Lacey after police were called to a dispute at a Forked River home, Lacey police said. Court records show she pleaded guilty to the charge and her license was suspended for a year.