Driver Charged With Death By Auto, DWI In Rt. 4 Fatal Crash: Prosecutor

PARAMUS, NJ — The driver of a car that crashed and killed two women Sunday night has been charged with two counts of death by auto, authorities announced.

Jasmine Cruz, 23, of Garfield was charged with the second-degree death by auto charges and issued a motor vehicle summons for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Grewal said Cruz was driving her 2001 Ford Mustang drunk when it rolled over on Route 4 East at the Olive Garden Restaurant at the Bergen Town Center just after 1 a.m. Sunday.

RELATED: Route 4 Crash Victim Had Just Graduated High School, Family Says

Two people, Mariah Gomez, 20, and Jenna DiSclafani, 19, died after they were thrown from the vehicle during the crash; DiSclafani was pronounced dead at the scene while Gomez was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center, Grewal said.

Jenna DiSclafani/GoFundMe

Cruz and Kevin A. Coiro, 23, were also thrown from the car. They were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, Grewal said.

Paramus police officers, the Bergen County Sheriff's Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office investigated the crash. They determined that Cruz was driving drunk and recklessly when the crash occurred.

DiSclafani just graduated from Garfield High School this year. An impromptu vigil was held Sunday at Century Field in Garfield in remembrance of her and Gomez. Her family started a GoFundMe page Monday to raise money to pay for her funeral. More than $6,500 was donated by Monday afternoon.

"I always wanted to be like her," Brittany Graff, DiSclafani's cousin, told ABC7. "She always made me smile, and I always looked up to her."

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