Drivers charged in NJ crash that killed aide to Gov. Phil Murphy

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Aug 1, 2025

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Five people have been charged in connection with a New Jersey car crash on New Year’s Day 2024 that killed a Princeton woman who worked in the governor’s office.

The mega-crash unfolded on Route 1 in Plainsboro around 1:56 a.m. It “involved six vehicles and was touched off by a drunken driving crash,” which culminated in the death of Louisa Bradlow Carman. She was 25 years old.

A Chicago native, Carman worked for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as a policy analyst on health and medical issues prior to her death, NJ.com reported.

According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the chaos kicked off when 24-year-old Cianni Hall, of Delran, struck Carman’s Ford Fusion, leaving it disabled in an active lane of travel. Some six minutes later, Carman’s vehicle was again struck, this time by a Chevrolet Impala driven by 27-year-old Adriana Vega, of Trenton.

Then, a car driven by Kartika Shorter, 44, of Trenton, collided with an SUV driven by a 48-year-old male, who was shuttling a 43-year-old female and two juvenile passengers. That crash injured a Good Samaritan who stopped to help.

Police charged Hall and Shorter with drunken driving shortly thereafter, but Vega fled the scene.

On Thursday, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Vega’s arrest in connection with the crash. She’s facing charges including first-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

Hall has also been charged with endangering another person, a third-degree crime while Shorter is facing additional counts including four counts of fourth-degree assault by auto, two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of third-degree endangering another person.

Zyira Dixon, 25, of Trenton, was charged with third-degree attempted escape, and fourth-degree obstruction and a fifth person, whose full name was not provided by the prosecutor’s office, was charged with fourth-degree hindering, third-degree attempted escape and fourth-degree obstruction.

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