Woman, 18, dies after being struck by car in Jamesburg
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

Umberta Colon helps arrange a shrine yesterday in honor of Ashley Streeter, an 18-year-old Monroe woman who was killed in an accident Sunday night near the West Railroad Avenue Subway shop where the two women worked. A photo, notes, flowers and candles are among the items included in a makeshift shrine.

JAMESBURG — An 18-year-old Monroe woman who was struck by a car on a borough road Sunday night died from her injuries less than an hour later, police said.

Ashley Streeter, a graduate of Monroe Township High School, was hit outside the Subway sandwich shop on West Railroad Avenue, where she worked, at 6:53 p.m., Jamesburg Police Lt. Paul Karkoska said.

Streeter was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, where she died at 7:49 p.m., Karkoska said.

Neither Detective Louis Ceras, who was assigned to the accident, nor Chief David Lester could be reached by the Sentinel. Ceras reportedly told the Star-Ledger that Streeter had run into the street to retrieve her cell phone, which had been taken by a friend’s brother in jest.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff

Karkoska said the driver of the 1997 Jeep Wrangler that struck Streeter was a 17-year-old male from Helmetta.

He said no tickets had been issued, and police do not believe that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital for blood tests as a matter of protocol, and the results had not yet been released, Karkoska said.

Karkoska, who did not release the boy’s name, said the accident is under investigation by the Jamesburg Police Department, with the assistance of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. To date, three witnesses to the accident have come forward, Karkoska said.

A shrine set up for Streeter outside the Subway shop has given friends, family and members of the community an opportunity to honor her memory.

“She was friendly, a nice person. She respected everybody,” said Streeter’s friend and co-worker Antoinette Dargan.

Dargan said she and some of her friends recently added a poster to the shrine, which already included flowers, candles, notes and two teddy bears.

Dargan said a local eighth-grade boy made a cross for the shrine as well.

Dargan, who is 20, had known Streeter since Dargan moved to Jamesburg three years ago. She said the two graduated from high school together.

“In the hallways, when she’d see her friend, she’d scream their name from across the hall,” Dargan recalled fondly.

Streeter was a good student and a good friend, she said, and everybody knew who she was.

Dargan said another of her friends has raised more than $250 for Streeter’s family since the tragic accident.