Prosecutor: Wrong-Way DWI Dumont Driver, 28, Charged In Route 80 Triple Fatal Crash

A car salesman from Dumont was charged in a wrong-way Route 80 crash in Parsippany-Troy Hills that killed three people last October, authorities announced Friday.

Miguel Botero, 28, of Dumont remained in custody pending a court hearing.
Photo Credit: *INSET: LinkedIn / BACKGROUND: ABC7 Eyewitness News*

Jalen Davis, left, and Julia Wells were two of the three people killed in the crash.
Photo Credit: *INSET: Jalen Davis and Julia Wells (FACEBOOK) / BACKGROUND: CBS2*

Cecilia Levine

01/10/2020 2:30 p.m.

Miguel Botero, 28, had been drinking and was headed westbound on the eastbound side of the highway on Oct. 18, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

Botero's car struck another vehicle around 1:45 a.m. near mile post 45.2, killing the driver and two passengers documents say.

The passengers were identified as Julia Wells and Jalen Davis, a pair of friends pursuing careers in cosmetology and music, respectively.

Another also-unidentified crash victim was hospitalized with burns, authorities said at the time.

Members of the New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit investigated the crash.

Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp's office subsequently charged Botero with three second-degree counts of reckless vehicular homicide.

Botero remains in custody pending a first court appearance.

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