Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced that a woman from Middletown has been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for causing the death of her 18-year old passenger and seriously injuring another passenger in a crash on the Garden State Parkway in the early morning hours of November 26, 2018.
Kimberly Franklin, 20, of Middletown was sentenced on May 13, 2019, to serve 10 years in a New Jersey state prison. Superior Court Judge Diane Pincus ordered that the defendant must complete 85 percent of the term before she can be eligible for parole.
In addition, the judge ordered that Franklin is subject to a 15-year loss of license to begin upon her release from prison.
Franklin pleaded guilty on February 21, 2019, to aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide, assault by auto and driving while intoxicated which caused the death of Ms. Nicole Smith, 18, of Middletown and seriously injured a 20-year old female passenger on November 26, 2018.
The defendant was charged following an investigation by Detective Anthony Giunta of the New Jersey State Police and Detective Jonathan Berman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office which determined that Franklin was driving a 2018 Dodge Charger, in an excessive speed while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
She rear-ended a 2009 Nissan Rogue on the southbound Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge Township and then proceeded to strike a guard rail and tree. The Dodge then overturned, causing her two passengers to be ejected from the vehicle.