2005 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

July 13, 2005

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi and Camden Police Chief Edwin J. Figueroa reported that a 17-year-old Camden resident was charged with Aggravated Manslaughter today, accused of causing the death of a 13-year-old passenger by exhibiting extreme recklessness in the operation of a car that crashed on Sunday, July 10, 2005, in Camden, N.J.

Laquan Taylor, of the 700 block of Morgan Boulevard, was killed when a 1995 Honda Accord crashed into a four-foot, metal and concrete post in the 1400 block of River Road at approximately 12:16 p.m. Sunday. The vehicle, owned by a resident of Williamstown, N.J., was reported stolen from the Cherry Hill Hilton parking lot on Route 70 in Cherry Hill on Friday, July 8, 2005.

The 17-year-old, whose name is being withheld because of his age, suffered minor injuries in the crash and was admitted to an area hospital and later released. He is being held at the Camden County Youth Detention Center in Blackwood, N.J. A decision will be made in the coming days about whether the Prosecutor's Office will seek to have the juvenile waived to adult court.

A 14-year-old male who was also a passenger suffered a serious head injury and two broken femurs. He remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Initial investigation indicates the vehicle was traveling south on River Road at a high rate of speed when it passed another vehicle heading the same direction, swerved back into the southbound lane to avoid an oncoming car, and veered off the road and into the post. The defendant was driving the car in excess of 95 mph in a 25 mph zone and had smoked marijuana about 90 minutes before the crash, preliminary investigation indicates.

The 17-year-old is also charged with receiving stolen property, as is the 14-year-old survivor.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.