Toms River, NJ, man found guilty in fatal 93 MPH crash

A Toms River man now potentially faces a decade in prison in connection to a fatal high-speed crash in 2022.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office says after a nearly two-week-long trial, a jury found 24-year-old Alejandro Huerta-Arias guilty of vehicular homicide.

The crash, which happened at the intersection of Route 9/Madison Avenue and Courtney Road in Lakewood Township on March 9th, 2022, claimed the life of 32-year-old Mark Mandel of Lakewood.

Prosecutors say an investigation revealed that Huerta-Arias was traveling northbound on Madison Avenue in a 2012 Infinity G35 when he struck a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, being driven by Mandel, who was attempting to make a left turn onto Courtney Road. The impact of the crash sent Mandel’s car into a traffic signal.

Mandel was pronounced dead at the scene while Huerta-Arias was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of a fractured leg.

That investigation later revealed that Huerta-Arias was traveling at an average speed of 93 MPH in a posted 40 MPH zone.

Huerta-Arias was charged with vehicular homicide on June 7th, 2022, and he surrendered to police.

When he is sentenced on May 16th, Huerta-Arias faces ten years in state prison.