DA dismisses most serious charges against NJ man in fatal 2019 East Lampeter crash

A New Jersey man charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI will spend less than two years in jail after the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office on Monday did not prosecute the most serious charges against him for lack of evidence.

Juan Carlos Marrero, 30, of Newark, was facing charges of homicide by vehicle while DUI, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI and 11 related offenses for a 2019 crash in East Lampeter Township that killed his then-girlfriend, B’nisha Thompson, 22, and injured his younger brother, who was a minor.

At a hearing in Lancaster County Court on Monday, Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Bree Blazier said her office was prosecuting charges of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, but found Marrero was not sufficiently impaired to be charged with committing the crimes while intoxicated.

The homicide by vehicle while DUI and aggravated assault while DUI charges each carried a maximum penalty of 10 years. After Marrero accepted a plea deal, Judge Dennis Reinaker sentenced him to 9 to 23 months in prison on the lesser charges.

Blazier said while Marrero had drugs in his system, a drug recognition expert determined he was not impaired enough to be charged.

Marrero pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, endangering the welfare of children and six other offenses. The district attorney did not prosecute two charges of careless driving as part of a plea agreement.

Marrero’s public defender, Anthony Damiano, said Marrero did not have a prior criminal record and has not had any legal issues since the crash.

According to police, Marrero was driving while high on cocaine and marijuana and ran into a sidewalk, sending his car airborne on Lincoln Highway East near Chateau Hill in East Lampeter Township.

Marrero crossed over two lanes before striking the sidewalk, sending his 2003 Infiniti sedan into a pole and concrete pillar, rolling it.

Thompson’s mother, Nordica Thompson, had sent a letter to Reinaker, lamenting the loss of her daughter.

“I hope the court puts him in a position where he thinks about what he did continuously,” Nordica Thompson wrote in her statement, which Blazier read in court.

Dressed in a black suit, voice cracking, Marrero addressed Reinaker, saying he would have done anything to change what happened.

“It dwells in me every day for the past five years,” Marrero said.

Reinaker cut him off, saying Marrero was driving more than 70 miles per hour in a 35 zone and had illegal drugs in his system.

“There are things you could’ve done,” Reinaker said.

Marrero will be in Newark until he reports to Lancaster County Prison on Aug. 2.