A New Jersey man who was drunk and driving 107 mph when he crashed into a parked car and killed an 8-year-old boy sleeping inside has pleaded guilty, authorities said Wednesday.
Edward Johnston, 25, will be sentenced on May 13 to 15 years in New Jersey State Prison as part of his plea agreement for aggravated manslaughter, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release. He will have to serve at least 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole, according to New Jersey state law.
Johnston had been racing down White Horse Pike in Absecon, N.J., on July 23, 2023, when his 2019 Nissan Sentra veered off the roadway and smashed into a 1995 Honda parked on the shoulder at around 3:30 a.m., the prosecutor’s office said at the time.
Javier Velez was asleep inside the car while his father and brother fished nearby, according to WCAU. While the 8-year-old was rushed to the hospital, he later died of his injuries.
Police issued several summonses and later charged Johnston in the Philadelphia boy’s death, alleging he was “recklessly speeding when he left the roadway and struck the parked vehicle.”
Johnston was briefly jailed following his indictment four months after the accident, but was released and has since remained free. Javier’s family is pushing for a state law that would keep defendants jailed before trial, reported WTXF. The bill, known as Javi’s Law, is working its way through the New Jersey legislature.
In December, the family marked their second Christmas without the son and big brother who was “so full of love and life” and “brightened the day of everyone he came in contact with,” according to an online funding appeal launched after he died.
His mother, Kaylah Smith, honored him with a giveaway of new toys, hats, scarves and gloves at a North Philadelphia community center, WTXF reported. It helps keep Javi’s name alive, she told the station, and helps other families who are similarly suffering.
“We’re grieving, and it’s not really joyful for us,” Smith said. “So if we can see other families have a little bit of joy, it at least helps us smile a little bit.”
