Vineland Man Is Convicted For 2014 Crash That Killed 14-Year-Old Girl
NEW JERSEY (CBS) -- A Vineland man was convicted Monday for multi-vehicle wreck that killed a young girl and injured three others in 2014.
Just six days after the trial began, Nicholas Garreffi, 42 of Vineland, was found guilty on charges of vehicular homicide, assault by auto and DUI after crashing into a car full of Mainland Regional High School students.
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In August of 2014, Hamilton Township police responded to a call for a multi-vehicle accident.
Investigators determined that Garreffi's 2008 Chevy Silverado crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, first striking a 2007 Mitsubishi box truck driven by Darrel Jacobs, 48, of Vineland, then striking a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta.
In that Jetta would be 14-year-old Aisling Cooke.
Aisling was seated in the rear passenger seat at the time of the crash. Three others in that vehicle would sustain mild injures, but Aisling suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to ACMC-City Division.
She would be pronounced dead six days later on September 3, 2014.
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In July of 2015, detectives from Hamilton Township and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Fatal Collision Unit charged Garreffi with second-degree Vehicular Homicide.
Following Monday's conviction, prosecutor Cary Shill said in a statement:
"While this conviction will not return Aisling to her family and friends, we are hopeful that it will send a message to those who abuse legal and illegal drugs that if you operate a vehicle while under the influence and cause injury or death to another, you will be convicted and sent to prison as a result of your actions. The jury in this matter made that very clear."
After Monday's verdict, Garreffi's bail was revoked and he was taken into custody pending sentence currently scheduled for September 22, 2017.
