TOMS RIVER — A Manchester Township man has been charged in connection with a March crash in Toms River that left a 37-year-old woman dead, authorities said.
Daniel Cormier, 31, was charged April 13 with vehicular homicide and strict liability vehicular homicide in the death of Shamirah Nolan of Freehold, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Police responded around 11:05 p.m. March 7 to a crash at Lakewood and Whitty roads. Investigators determined that Cormier was driving a Volkswagen Jetta south on Lakewood Road when the vehicle struck a guardrail, lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with a northbound Honda Accord driven by Nolan.
Nolan was taken to Community Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Cormier was treated for minor injuries at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and later released.
Officers at the scene suspected impairment, and a court-authorized blood sample was taken. Results received April 13 showed Cormier’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.09, above New Jersey’s legal limit of 0.08. Authorities also said Gabapentin and Hydrocodone were detected in his system.
Cormier turned himself in to Toms River police the same day he was charged and was taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he is being held pending a detention hearing.
Billhimer credited the prosecutor’s office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Toms River police and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their work on the case.
At the time of the accident, Nolan’s sister Daaimah Parrish, confirmed her identity to Jersey Shore Online and remembered her sister as someone whose personality lit up every room.
“She was the goofiest person ever,” Parrish said. “To know her was just to love her.”
Nolan, born May 24, 1988, spent her life in Freehold and worked as a certified nursing assistant. Parrish said she was driving to her overnight shift at Complete Care at Bey Lea when the crash occurred.
Nolan’s three daughters — ages 17, 18 and 19 — were the center of her life.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.
