A New Jersey reporter has been charged with first-degree murder after intentionally driving her car into oncoming traffic and killing a 95-year-old woman, police and prosecutors said.
Lisa Pollitt, 36, who worked for a community news site, was driving against traffic on the northbound side Route 130 in Middlesex County on Feb. 10 when she crashed into an oncoming vehicle, seriously injuring Ann “Nancy” Stewart, of Monroe, and an unidentified driver, authorities said.
Stewart died two days later. Pollitt was charged with murder following Stewart’s death. “At present, the murder appears to be a random act as Pollitt and the victims were unknown to one another,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement released this week.
Asked by Digital if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the case, a spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office declined comment this week.
“This office must limit its comments on the matter to those contained in the attached release,” wrote assistant prosecutor Conner Ouellette in an email to Digital.
Pollitt remains in custody pending a detention hearing, the prosecutor’s office said.
She was a contributor to community news site New Brunswick Today.
“We are deeply saddened to learn about the fatal crash that occurred on Feb. 10 in Cranbury. It is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the victims and their families,” New Brunswick Today Editor Charlie Kratovil told Digital this week.
“We were shocked to learn of the involvement of one of our team members, Lisa Pollitt, in that crash. Like all of our writers, she contributed to this publication on a freelance basis,” he said.
“We wish peace, justice, and healing for all of those who have been hurt or suffered a loss as a result of this very sad situation,” Kratovil said.