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A grand jury indicted 30-year-old Stephen Sirch on Wednesday, June 26 for second-degree vehicular homicide, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release. He was previously charged in the deadly crash on Black Horse Pike on Wednesday, Apr. 3.
Township of Hamilton police responded to the crash near High Bank Road at around 2:15 p.m. Investigators said Sirch's 2014 Chevrolet Equinox struck a 2011 Honda Civic while both vehicles were traveling west on Black Horse Pike.
Karina Castillo, 29, of Clementon, was driving the Honda, which crossed the median after it was struck by Sirch's Chevy. She was hit by an oncoming 2015 Ford Fusion driven by a 40-year-old Hammonton woman.
Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene. According to a GoFundMe page, she was a family therapist and marriage counselor in Vineland, who also worked for the state's Division of Child Protection & Permanency.
The fundraising campaign was created by her sorority sisters from the Rowan University chapter of Lambda Tau Omega. The GoFundMe page raised $29,613 before it was closed to new donations.
Sirch, the Ford driver, and two passengers were brought to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City Campus, with non-life-threatening injuries. A child passenger also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was sent to Cooper University Medical Center.
Prosecutors said Sirch was speeding at the time of the crash. He was arrested and charged with second-degree vehicular homicide on Monday, Apr. 22.
The NJDOT said the crash knocked down a utility pole and traffic was diverted for several hours.
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