Unlicensed Driver Charged After Baby Killed in Store Lot

A mother was pushing her two children through a New Jersey grocery-store parking lot when a car struck all three. Her 9-month-old son died, and prosecutors say the 20-year-old driver had never held a valid driver’s license.

The crash happened shortly before noon Aug. 28 outside the Jackson NPGS grocery store in Jackson Township, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. The mother and her 5-year-old daughter survived and were listed in stable condition.

Maria CobonGuzman, 20, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, driving without ever having possessed a valid license while involved in a fatal crash, and two counts of assault by auto.

A Routine Walk Through a Parking Lot

The three pedestrians were crossing the store lot with both children in a baby carriage when they were struck, prosecutors said. Emergency crews took all three to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

The infant was pronounced dead at the hospital. Officials did not publicly identify the family in the initial release, preserving the children’s privacy while the investigation continued.

The setting is part of what makes the case so difficult to absorb: a parent moving through an ordinary store parking lot with two children, followed by a criminal investigation within hours.

Prosecutors Say Another Woman Knew She Had No License

The case did not stop with the driver. Investigators also charged 22-year-old Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, who prosecutors say knew CobonGuzman did not have a valid driver’s license but allowed her to operate the Ford Fusion anyway.

Lazaro-Flores was charged with knowingly engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death to another. Both women were taken to the Ocean County Jail pending detention hearings.

The charges are allegations. Prosecutors emphasized that both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Multiple Agencies Are Investigating

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad is handling the investigation with local police, the sheriff’s crime-scene unit and other county investigators.

People reported that the collision killed the infant and injured the mother and 5-year-old girl, while also drawing attention to the allegation that the driver had never been licensed in any state.

Investigators had not announced a final account of why the vehicle struck the family. The central established facts are the ordinary setting, the loss of a 9-month-old child and the charges now facing two adults.

For the surviving mother and daughter, the legal process begins after a trip to the grocery store ended with a loss their family will carry long after the parking lot returned to normal.

References: Ocean County Prosecutor - Charges Filed in Fatal Crash | People - 9-Month-Old Killed in Store Parking Lot

The Truth In Facts team was assisted by generative AI technology in creating this content