Bucks woman pleads in crash that killed man, injured girlfriend
Jaclyn Jones, 30, struck Christopher Marinelli last August while driving under a suspended license, according to investigators.
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A Bucks County woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular homicide in a head-on collision that killed a man out for an evening drive last summer with his girlfriend.
Jaclyn Jones, 30, of Nockamixon Township, was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, and related offenses, according to a statement from the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. She faces a sentencing hearing on Sept. 18.
On Aug. 30, Jones was driving under a suspended license for two prior DUI convictions when she crossed a double-yellow line on Route 611 in Bedminster Township, according to the statement.
She struck a Saturn SL1 sedan driven by Christopher Marinelli, 21, who died at the scene from "multiple blunt-force injuries," prosecutors said. His passenger, Gabrialle Otero, was hospitalized in critical condition with traumatic brain injuries and fractures to her skull and neck.
A blood test after the crash showed that Jones, who suffered minor injuries, had a variety of drugs in her system, including amphetamine, oxycodone and fentanyl, prosecutors said.
Witnesses told investigators that Jones had "been swerving and driving at irregular speeds" before the crash. Police found no evidence that Jones "had tried to avoid the collision or applied her brakes," according to the District Attorney's Office
Marinelli grew up in Doylestown, graduating from Central Bucks High School East in 2015, according to his obituary.
At the time of his death, he was "pursuing a career with Comcast Business" in Horsham, the obituary stated. He was an avid reader, and enjoyed driving throughout Bucks County with Otero, his girlfriend.
Otero, 20, told police that Marinelli had picked her up from work shortly before the collision for one of those drives.
Her recovery from the crash is ongoing, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert D. James, and she continues to suffer from "headaches, anxiety, impaired vision, amnesia" and other issues.