JACKSON TOWNSHIP NJ(August 28, 2026)(CNBNews)–Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on August 28, 2026, Maria CobonGuzman, 20, of Trenton, was charged with Manslaughter, Operating a Motor Vehicle Without Ever Having Possessed or Been Issued a Valid Driver’s License While Involved in a Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash, and two counts of Assault by Auto, all in connection with an incident that occurred in Jackson Township on August 28, 2026. Additionally, Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, 22, of Toms River, was charged with Knowingly Engaging in Conduct Creating a Substantial Risk of Death to Another, in connection with the same incident.
On August 28, 2026, at approximately 11:55 a.m., Officers from the Jackson Township Police Department responded to the area of the Jackson NPGS grocery store on West County Line Road for a report of a motor vehicle crash involving pedestrians.
Responding Officers discovered that a mother and her two minor children – a five-year-old female and a nine-month-old male – had been struck by a motor vehicle in the store’s parking lot. All three victims were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of their injuries. The mother and her five-year-old daughter remain hospitalized in stable condition; her nine-month-old son was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, Jackson Township Police Department, Lakewood Township Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that CobonGuzman was operating a Ford Fusion in the parking lot of the NPGS grocery store when she struck the mother and her baby carriage carrying both children. Further investigation revealed that CobonGuzman did not possess, nor had she ever possessed, a valid driver’s license in this or any other state. Continuing investigation further revealed that Lazaro-Flores was aware of that fact, but nevertheless permitted CobonGuzman to operate the motor vehicle.
CobonGuzman and Lazaro-Flores were taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail, where they are presently lodged pending a detention hearing.
The crash remains under investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit- Vehicular Homicide Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, Jackson Township Police Department, Lakewood Township Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
The charges referenced above are merely accusations and the press and public are reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
R.P.C. 3.6(b)(6).