By: Richard L. Smith
Authorities in Essex County are investigating whether speed and reckless driving was a factor in a deadly crash that claimed the life of a man and left a young woman fighting for her life early Sunday morning in Newark’s South Ward.
According to preliminary information, police and emergency crews responded to the 600 block of Frelinghuysen Avenue near Haynes Avenue around 2:40 a.m. after receiving reports of a serious single-vehicle crash.
Upon arrival, first responders discovered a horrific scene.
A man had been ejected from the wrecked vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was later identified as 32-year-old Mr. Alsharif May of Newark. Officials say May suffered multiple traumatic injuries consistent with being thrown from the car during the crash.
RLS Media learned that also inside the vehicle was 21-year-old Ms. Endiyah Dickerson, who sustained life-threatening injuries.
She was rushed to University Hospital in critical condition, where she remains under intensive care.
Witnesses at the scene told RLS Media that the vehicle had been speeding down Frelinghuysen Avenue when it lost control and slammed into a tree.
The impact was so violent that May was catapulted from the car.
Since a large portion of Frelinghuysen Avenue was repaved, the stretch from Miller Street to the Elizabeth border has become a frequent site of late-night speeding and reckless driving limited enforcement.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash, and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is continuing to investigate the exact cause.