BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ — Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer has identified the victim of a fatal hit and run crash in Brick Township as Julia Sutton, 56, of Weehawken, Hudson County. In connection with this incident, 19-year-old Mark Carey, Jr., of South Amboy, was charged on January 14, 2024, with Knowingly Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident Resulting in Death.
The tragic event unfolded on January 13, 2024, around 9:15 a.m., when Brick Township Police Department officers were called to the scene of a hit and run at Route 35 South and Bay Avenue. They found that a vehicle had struck Sutton on the shoulder of the roadway before fleeing. Sutton was transported to Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township, where she was pronounced deceased.
An extensive investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Brick Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit led to the identification of the vehicle involved, a 1999 Ford Explorer registered to Carey. Further inquiries confirmed Carey as the driver at the time of the accident that resulted in Sutton’s death.
Carey was arrested at his home in South Amboy without incident and processed at Brick Township Police Headquarters. He was then transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is currently being held pending a detention hearing.