A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for killing a teenager in a drunken car crash in May, authorities announced Thursday.
Gerald Veneziano, 41, pleaded guilty on Monday in connection with the crash that killed 18-year-old Jacob Davis in Roxbury, the Bergen Record reported.
Veneziano, a Belleville resident, struck a plea deal with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. At sentencing, prosecutors will recommend a six-year jail term.
On May 31, Veneziano was drunk behind the wheel of a Chevy Silverado when he slammed into a Mazda 3 on Howard Blvd. in Roxbury, authorities said. Both cars were engulfed in flames, and Davis was killed in the wreck.
Veneziano suffered serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital. Cops later determined he was driving between 90 and 93 mph when he struck Davis’ vehicle. His blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.13, well above the legal limit of 0.08. Officers also found multiple open containers of alcohol inside Veneziano’s vehicle.
In court on Monday, he said he could not actually remember the crash but had been presented with information about his conduct, the Bergen Record reported.
Davis was a pre-med student at Northeastern University who had just completed his freshman year of college and returned home for the summer. He lived in Mount Olive Township.
Veneziano’s name, age, hometown and backstory — he mentioned in court that he’d been shot in the head in the past — match the story of a Fairfield, N.J., police officer who was shot in a random attack while off duty in 2010.
