An Ocean County grand jury has indicted a Toms River man on multiple felony charges stemming from a fatal motor vehicle crash in Lakewood Township earlier this year, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
On December 18, 2025, Martine Taylor, Jr., 56, of Toms River, was indicted on charges of Aggravated Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, and Causing Death While Driving with a Suspended Driver’s License in connection with a May 13, 2025 crash that claimed the life of Christine Kroliczak, 52, of Matawan.
According to authorities, at approximately 1:35 a.m. on May 13, 2025, Lakewood Township Police responded to a report from a commercial tractor-trailer operator who struck overhead utility wires while traveling eastbound on Cedar Bridge Avenue near the Garden State Parkway overpass. Officers discovered a utility disruption and contacted Jersey Central Power & Light to secure the area.
During the response, officers located a heavily damaged 2015 Nissan Altima overturned in a drainage ditch adjacent to the eastbound lanes of Cedar Bridge Avenue. Taylor was found entrapped inside the vehicle and was extricated before being transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment. A female passenger, later identified as Ms. Kroliczak, was also found entrapped and unresponsive. Despite life-saving efforts, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit–Vehicular Homicide Squad, the Lakewood Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit determined that the Altima had been traveling westbound before crossing the double yellow centerline into the eastbound lanes. The vehicle then left the roadway, became airborne, cleared a guardrail, and traveled an estimated 189 feet through the air. While airborne, it struck a utility pole, briefly touched down, became airborne again, struck a tree, and came to rest upside down in the drainage ditch.
Investigators determined that Taylor’s driver’s license was suspended at the time of the crash. A court-authorized blood draw obtained at the hospital later revealed Taylor’s blood alcohol concentration was .182, more than twice New Jersey’s legal limit of .08. Further analysis showed Taylor was traveling between 94 and 98 miles per hour just before the crash, with no evidence of braking, on a roadway with a posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour.
Taylor was initially charged with Causing Death While Driving with a Suspended Driver’s License and issued multiple motor vehicle summonses. After being treated and released from the hospital, he was lodged in the Ocean County Jail and later released under New Jersey Bail Reform. Following receipt of the toxicology results and continued investigation, the charges were upgraded to Aggravated Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide.
On September 11, 2025, Taylor was taken into custody without incident by the Lakewood Township Police Department Traffic Unit at a hotel in Toms River. He was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he has remained detained since that date.
Prosecutor Billhimer credited Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Heisler for presenting the case to the grand jury and commended the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit–Vehicular Homicide Squad, the Lakewood Township Police Department and its Traffic Unit, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their combined efforts in the investigation.