FREEHOLD – Texting while driving led to a Monmouth County woman being sentenced to five years in relation to a 2016 Hazlet Township collision that took the life of 39-year-old Yuwen Wang.
Alexandra Mansonet, 51, Keansburg was sentenced on Aug. 21 to five years for her role in the collision that occurred on Laurel Avenue in Hazlet Township.
Her sentencing was announced by Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. She will be serving her sentence in a New Jersey State Prison according to Judge David F. Bauman who issued the sentence.
Mansonet’s sentence is also subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA) requiring her to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole. She will also be on parole for a period of three years once released. The trial jury returned a guilty verdict for second degree vehicular homicide following a three-week trial on Nov. 22, 2019.
During the trial, evidence was presented that revealed Mansonet had been texting while driving at the time of the fatal crash.
The initial collision involved a 2000 Mercedes Benz, operated by Mansonet and a 2011 Toyota Corolla, operated by Robert Matich of Keansburg.
Matich’s son was a passenger in the vehicle. Matich’s vehicle was heading south on Laurel Avenue approaching the intersection with Sixth Street when he observed pedestrians looking to cross Laurel Avenue at the marked crosswalk.
Matich slowed the car to a stop to let the pedestrians cross. That’s when Mansonet’s car rear-ended his, pushing it forward and hitting the victim.
Wang had to be transported by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center’s Trauma Unit in New Brunswick. She died in the hospital on Oct. 3, 2016.
Members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART) and Hazlet Township Police Department conducted an investigation that determined Mansonet was using her cell phone while driving and made no observations of Matich’s vehicle.
She never used her brakes, police said.
Following her sentencing, attorney Raymond M. Brown, one of the attorneys handling her appeal, asked the Court to grant her release on bail while her appeal is pending, which was opposed by the State Judge Bauman.
Brown then asked Judge Bauman to stay his order pending an emergent appeal of the denial of bail pending appeal. The stay was granted, allowing Mansonet to file an emergent appeal to the Appellate Division on the issue.
Mansonet was released by Judge Bauman but ordered to return by 3 p.m. on Aug. 25 to start serving her sentence unless the Appellate Division reverses his ruling and grants bail pending appeal.
